The DragonTrilogy
by Dragon-Ninjagirl
Summary: [Chapter 75!] The very last chapter of this long story is up! Ten years later Axel has a normal life with his family until a dark stranger arrives at his house...Hope you like it and please review!
1. An important duty

An important duty

Axel ran as fast as he could. He didn´t mind the way or his environment. He just wanted to escape of the people who followed him. His lungs burned like fire as he ran through the forest of Landmark. A thornbush was in his way, but he ran through it and ignored the thick thorns that cut his skin open. The thorns tore his clothes into pieces, but he had no time and kept on running. Axel didn´t turn around and tried to find a hiding place. He reached the river and looked around. Then he saw a tree that stood on a small hill. Axel cheered in his mind and ran towards the tree. Under it was a small cave and he hid in it.

His persuers came nearer and nearer. He tried not to breath that hard and was quiet. If the rider found him, everything would be out. The horses stopped in the near of the cave. Axel heard three or four different voices. "He is not here!", one man said to the others. "Maybe he ran into the north, he can´t be far away", another one guessed. _Please, ride into the north_, Axel hoped. The place where he had to go laid in the other direction. "Let´s go there, he is not here."

Axel waited in his hiding place till the sound of the horses was gone. Slowly he came out of his hiding place and looked around. He was sure none followed him, so he went on. It was a sunny day in the middle of July. The green leaves of the trees shimmered in the sun and some white clouds were at the sky. The leaves rustled in the soft breeze and some birds sat in the trees or flew through the lightblue sky.

But the peace betrayed those ones who thought everything would be okay. The country of Landmark was in a very bad time. The king of it, a misterious man named Lee, stole the farmers their cows, sheep and the most important: their corn. They had not many to live and the taxes were really high. Some people couldn´t pay their taxes and were chased, caught and sometimes even killed. Axel´s father was one of them. Nearly ten years ago a man came into their village and wanted the people to pay their taxes. Axel´s father, Sebastian Manning, didn´t want to pay and had fought against that man. But he was killed. Axel himself was in age of nine then. He ran away and since then he lived with the rebels.

The riders chased him, because they found out he was a rebell. Quickly he had run away. Now he searched for his best friend, King. King was a gently giant and a big animal lover. He had a great strength.

Axel went through the forest and didn´t took the path. Maybe more riders and soldiers of the king would be there. Riders and soldiers always wore red clothes. On their chests often was the sign of Lee: a golden griffin. Axel reached the mountain Athran, the only one in the forest of Landmark. Its big, sharp cliffs and rocks looked grey and cold. The mountain was about threethousand metres high. But it was the hiding place of the rebells, too. The mountain was full of hidden caves, so it was the perfect place to build an armee of rebels against the king without anyone was knowing it.

King leaned against a rock and waited for Axel. "There you are! I really thought the riders caught you", he said and smiled. "Not in this life", Axel answered. "Do you have the letter?", King asked and looked at his best friend. Axel took an envelope out of a hiding place in his belt and showed it King. "Let´s go to Thomas, he is waiting for us. I want to know what is that important on this letter", King said and looked around. As he was sure none saw him, he went through a gap in the rocks and disappeared. Axel followed him.

Behind the rocks was a path. Some torches spent light, but the path was very thin and the two had to search a way through the sharp stone. After five metres they arrived at the first gate. It was a wooden gate and one guard stood in front of it. He had a sword in his hands and looked at the two friends. Then he nodded to them and the gate opened. A new path appeared, but this time it was much larger. Many torches stood in regular distances at the walls and spent light. This path was about twenty metres long.

At the end of the path was another gate. The guards nodded to King and Axel and opened it. They went through it and were in the heart of the mountain Athran. The cave they were in was giantic. About 3000 people lived here. The cave was distributed in many different parts. One part, for example, was for the blacksmiths and the craftmen, antoher part gave the people a place to sleep. Torches spent the only light in that caves and fresh air came through a system of thin tunnels that connected the outworld with the heart of the Athran.

Axel knew the way to Thomas, the leader of the rebels here. He searched his way through all the people. Thomas had his hut at the end of the caves. Axel and King passed the smiths. They worked hard and many boys ran around. They learned this craft. The other craftmen didn´t seem to be that busy. They were calm and did their work.

The two reached Thomas hut. Two guards let them in. Axel opened the door and stepped in, meanwhile King decided to stay outside. Thomas was an old man in the age of sixty. He had grey hair and a thick beard. He wore darkbrown pants and a white shirt. He looked up of his work and stood up.

"Ah, Axel. I expected you. Your know what your duty is? You have to bring the letter to the rebells in the south of Landmark. With horses it´ll be a journey of four months. I know, we haven´t many time, and now I want to know: Are you going to do what your duty says?" Thomas spoke in a nice, friendly voice. He looked at Axel and waited for his answer.

"Of course I´m doing what your order is", he answered and bowed to Thomas who smiled a little.

"Go to the smiths and ask them for weapons. Then come to the exit at the south side of the cave. I´ll wait there for you with horses, something to eat and a surprise", Thomas said and nodded to Axel. As Axel wanted to go, Thomas stopped him in front of the door. "You should know...your father would be very proud of you", he said. Axel said nothing. He didn´t turn around and he didn´t look at Thomas. "Thank you", was all he said. Then he left. King waited for him in front of the hut.

"What´s up?", he asked as he saw Axel´s sad face. "Nothing. Thomas told us we should go to the smiths, because of the weapons", he just answered.

The smiths were very kind to the two teenagers. They gave each one a sword. But it were special swords. Axel´s one had a black covering and an orange handle. On the blade was a small A for his name. King´s one had a white covering and an orange handle, too. On the blade was a C for his name, Crey. Thomas told the smiths some weeks before, he knew about the letter and planned everything.

The two friends went to the exit in the south of the cave. They saw Thomas standing there with four horses and two other boys in their own age.

"There you are. Here are two young men who are going with you. This one is Olliver Sharker." Thomas looked at a guy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had brown clothes that looked very old. On his belt hung a sword in a leather covering. The leather had a nice, blue color. "Well, dudes, you can call me Shark if you want", Shark said and smiled.

"And this is Zach Hawkes. He can handle the bow as one of the best", Thomas said and looked at the other boy. He had red hair and green eyes. His hair was short cut, he wore a white shirt and brown pants. On his back was a longbow. He had a covering for the arrows on his belt and a short sword. "Call me Hawk. Remember that name every time, it´ll be very famous, in some time", the boy said.

"I´m Axel Manning. Call me Axel, I have no real nickname", Axel said and smiled to the two boys. "And I´m Crey Kingston, but you can call me King."

"Okay, now you got to know each other. You should better go now, in ten months is the big battle and you have to reach the south very quick", Thomas spoke up and gave each of them a horse. They sat on their animals. Big bags with something to eat laid on the back of the horses. "No problem. We´ll make it", Axel said and then the four boys rode out of the cave. They rode the first time very fast and they didn´t know what would happen in the next four months.

**I hope you liked this first chapter of my story. It plays in the 12th century, I wrote it just some time after I read the book "Gwydion". It´s about the same century, about knights, battles, adventures and many more! So I got the idea for this story. But I also brought some fantasy parts in. Well, they´re coming in the last chapters. I wrote this story first in german, now I´m translating it. It has about 19 chapters and the last three or four are the ones with the fantasy parts. **

**Please, don´t forget to review, cuz it was very difficult to describe everything as well as in german and I want to know if I made it good. Or bad! **

**So, please review!!! **


	2. A new friendship

A new friendship

It was the first day the four guys spent together. But that didn´t matter, they became friends after a short time, laughed and joked together. The whole day they rode and as the sky turned red they searched a place to sleep. Hawk found a place near a small lake. They tied the horses to a tree and took their blankets out. King made a small fire and they all sat around it. The sun started setting, the breeze rustled in the trees and bushes and the gently light shimmered on the water of the lake. Though it was summer the wind became colder and colder. They were all wrapped into their blankets and sat around the fire.

"I think we need some new wood for the fire. I´ll go and fetch some", Axel said and stood up. He left his friends and went into the forest. The sun spent some light, but not many. After five minutes of walking he found a place where many twigs and branches laid. As he picked some twigs up he heard something. It was a scream of a woman. He dropped the wood and ran into the direction where the scream came from.

He ran through some bushes and saw five or six big men who attacked someone. No, someone attacked them! Axel saw a young woman that fought with the giantic men. She jumped through the air and kicked, punched them or rolled out of their attacks. The men had heavy swords, but the woman ducked and fought with them. Axel was surprised and a little confused. Nevertheless he helped her, used his Jo-Lan and blasted one of those red haired men away. The woman glanced to Axel, then she kept on fighting.

She moved like a cat, flexible, silent, but hard kicking. Her brown hair was in a lose ponytail and she wore a dark green dress. As she kicked one men Axel saw she wore green pants under her dress. After some minutes the men were frightened and ran away.

"Thank you. You don´t know me, but you helped me. What´s your name?", she asked, heavily breathing because of the fight. Her green-golden eyes looked deeply into his ones. He did not know why, but somehow he stared into her eyes. They fascinated him, because he had never seen a girl before who had eyes like hers.

"Hey, what´s up?", she asked confused as he didn´t answer.

"Oh, well...I´m sorry...My name is Axel. And what is your name?" He felt the heat came up in him and went into his face. It became dark, because the sun setted, so he hoped she couldn´t see he blushed a little.

"I´m Catalina. Call me Lioness, like my friends do", she replied and smiled.

"And what are you doing here alone in the forest?", he asked. He was surprised that he formed a real sentence. He felt like if his language didn´t want to work right. His heart beat very fast, he didn´t know why. The fight was more than about five minutes over and normally he should have calmed down. But something kept his heart on fast beating.

"You don´t look like one of the king´s men. You look too nice for being some of them, so I think I can tell you. The king burned my village, killed my friends. My family could escape, but I do not know where they are now. I´m going to revenge me on the king and his men. I hope I can find the rebels, maybe I can help them", she answered and looked to the ground.

"Then you´re right here! My friends and I are members of the rebells, we have to bring a special letter to the south", Axel said,"...do you want to come with us?" He looked at her. The green dress fitted perfect to her eye color. On her belt he noticed a thin sword, a little shorter than normal ones. It had an interesting form.

"Okay, I´m interested to get to know your friends", she said. Axel turned around and she followed him. "Why can you fight that well?", he suddenly asked as they went back to the fireplace.

"I´m from Brazil. My parents taught me Capoeira, a special martial-art. That´s nothing important, nearly everyone at home can fight with Capoeira. But what you did, was very special. I´ve never seen anyone fighting like you. Are you a wizard or why can you blast your enemys away?", she asked interested and looked into his face.

Axel smiled. "I just used a martial-art, called Jo-Lan. My father taught me. It compairs my body and my mind and this way I can fight my opponents", he explained.

"Your father must be a master in it. You can fight very well, and if he taught you he must be very good", Lioness said.

"Not really. He died when I was a small boy. The men of the king killed him. Since then I lived with the rebels."

"I´m sorry for you...I didn´t want that", she said quietly.

"It´s okay. You don´t have to apologize you for that", he smiled and they walked on. The rest of the way they walked in silence. They reached the fireplace and Axel introduced Lioness to his friends.

"This is Lioness. She wants to come with us, because she is in search of the rebels", he said and smirked a little. "Hi, dude, I´m Shark!", said Shark and nodded to her as a greeting. Lioness looked questionaly at Axel. "He´s from Scottland, but I don´t really know if they´re speaking there like him", he whispered to her as he noticed her confused face. He had to smile.

"And I´m King, welcome to our group." "And this beautiful face belongs to me, call me Hawk", Hawk said and smiled. Lioness sat next to Axel at the fire. The whole evening they talked about very different things. About Lioness story, their mission and the villages they would cross when they rode into the south. Axel stayed awake at this night and watched out for enemys or wild animals. The others were wrapped into their blankets and fell asleep, just about midnight.

The darkblue sky was starry and the moon spent a silver light. The small fire burned well and sparks rose up into the air because of the hot air over the fire. The night was cold and each breath left a small, white cloud in the air. Lioness rubbed her hands and wrapped her arms around her knees she had pulled up to her chest. She couldn´t feel her fingers and her nose was very cold. She froze and shook a little. The bright flames of the fire threw an orange and flashing light on the man in opposite of her.

She looked at Axel who stared into the flames. His darkbrown hair got a different color in the light of the fire. He was wrapped into his thick blanket and looked absent-minded. His lightblue eyes looked up and looked into hers. He smiled a little and stood up. "What are you doing?", Lioness asked him. He gave her his blanket. "You´re getting cold", he just said. "I´m okay", she replied. "I´m not stupid. You´re freezing, I can see it. Here, take my blanket."

Lioness blushed a little and took the blanket. "Thank you", she said and wrapped the warm blanket around her. Then Axel sat down next to her. "No big. But tomorrow we´ll have a problem, we have no horse for you."

"We should buy one in the next village", she said and looked into the flames of the fire. They licked on the dry wood and turned it into read glimming ash. "Till then you can take mine if you want", Axel said. He didn´t look at her. He felt very warm though it was cold. His heart beat faster than normal and the blood rushed through his head. It was a comfortable heat that kept him warm.

"And what about you?", she asked. "I can´t ride very well, and I don´t like it to ride a long time." "Thank you", she said again and turned silent. After half an hour Axel asked her something, but her breath was regular and she was asleep. Her head leaned against his shoulder. Gently he laid her on the ground and woke King up. Now King stayed awake and Axel fell asleep.

Axel was the first one who woke up. The others were still asleep. Their fire was just a glimming hill of ash and some twigs. Smoke rose up into the air. Axel went to the lake and drank a little. Then he dived his head into the cold and fresh water, now he was awake. As he heard a silent noise behind him, he turned around. Lioness stood a metre away behind him. In her hands she held his blanket.

"Here. I hope you didn´t freeze", she said quietly and gave him the blanket. He felt how the heat came up in him and he blushed a little. He didn´t know why, but he blushed. "No problem, it was warm enough", he just answered and took the blanket. Then he walked over to his horse and laid the blanket on its back.

"Hey, guys, wake up! It´s a sunny sommer day and we have to leave now!" Axel yelled and clapped with his hands. Shark sat up and looked shocked. "I´m awake! I´m awake!", he said and looked confused around. "Hey, I need my beauty sleep!", growled Hawk and pulled the blanket over his face. Axel smiled and pulled his blanket away. "What the-? Are you crazy? It´s cold this morning, thank you very much that I´m freezing now!", Hawk shouted sacastically and stood up. "It´s not my fault, I warned you!", Axel said and laughed. King was ready in some minutes.

Shark yawned. "Oh, dudes, why do we have to get up that early? None is awake just after the sun rose" "You´re wrong, Shark. WE are awake at this time!", Lioness laughed and put some soil on the fire. "Maybe the four of us are awake, but Hawk is still sleeping!", King mentioned and looked at Hawk. He leaned with his back against a tree and was asleep again.

"Hey, guys, I have an idea. Listen..." Lioness whispered something to Axel, Shark and King and giggled. The three boys smiled and nodded. Gently they grabbed Hawk and walked with him to the lake. "One, two, three!" They threw Hawk into the blue water and he woke up. "Help! Help! I can´t swim! I-" He stopped yelling as he noticed he could stand on the ground. The water just reached his waist. "Oh", he said and looked angry. The others laughed a long time. Shark laid on the ground and held his belly, he couldn´t stop laughing. King had his hand on Axel´s shoulder and supported himself on Axel, otherwise he would fall on the ground. Axel shook because of the laugh and Lioness had some tears in her eyes. She held her belly, too, and laughed.

"That is not funny!", Hawk said furious and stepped out of the water. After some minutes the others stopped laughing. They packed their things and sat on their horses. Exept Axel, he walked next to the others. He walked very fast, so they were a little faster. It was a sunny morning and very warm. The sun shined through the leaves of the trees and the warm wind rustled in the bushes. The five friends didn´t took the path through the forest, because they thought there would be some soldiers and they didn´t want to be caught. The king ordered that everyone who travels through the country had to show all his things. Then the soldiers could see if someone belonged to the rebels or not. If soldiers stopped them and found the letter, everything would be over. They wouldn´t reach the south and the rebels there, the battle wouldn´t happen. It was a too high risk they didn´t want.

In the early afternoon they arrived at a small town. It had a wall around it and three gates with guards in front of them. "Wait a moment", said King and sat off of his horse. He took his blanket and gave it to Lioness. "I have an idea how we could get into that town. I hope you can act a little." Lioness took the blanket, she looked confused. Axel knew what King planned. "Put the blanket under your dress, on the high of your belly", he ordered and smiled, "King, your a genius." King bowed joking to Axel and smiled, too.

"I still don´t get it. Why should we get into that town when Lioness has a blanket under her dress?", Shark asked and looked confused. Lioness did what the boys told her. "A woman who gets her child in a few moments will come into a town easier, because she needs quick help or she will die", Axel explained and grinned. "Ah, dudes, you´re very clever", Shark replied and smiled, too. "We know", Axel and King answered in the same time and laughed.

"Okay, Lioness, you just have to look like if you have many pains. And Axel", King said and looked at his best friends,"talk to that nice guards. Your wife needs help."

"Why MY wife? She could be your wife, too", Axel asked.

"Well,...don´t know. So, happy marriage!"

"Great, thank you", Axel murmered and they went to the gate. Two guards stood in front of the gate with swords on their belts. They wore read clothes and the golden griffing on their chest.

"My wife needs help. Our child is coming and she looks as if it is the right time now", Axel said to one guard. The guard looked at Lioness, who acted very well. She groaned and looked as if she had many pains. "You can go in. A doctor is in the yellow house at the marketplace", the guard answered and let them in.

After some corners Lioness gave the blanket back to King. "Nice idea, guys, really cool", she said and smiled. In the town they bought a black, but old horse for Lioness. The horse was very cheap and they had not much money. After they bought just a little to eat they left the town on the other side.

They rode the whole afternoon till they found a new place to sleep in the near of a small and thin spring. The sun setted and the sky turned dark. They all sat around the warm fire, wrapped into their blankets. Lioness had a blanket, too, they bought one in the town. "What do you think will happen in the next days?", King asked them. None knew an answer. This was just the beginning of their adventure. The journey would last about four months.

In the late night Axel woke up. He had a bad dream and looked up into the sky. Sweath ran down his forehead, but he was shaking. He closed his eyes and sat up. Then he buried his face in his hands and tried to forget his dream.

"What´s up?" A quiet voice let him whirl around. Lioness was awake, too. She sat at the fire and looked at him. "Bad dream, huh?", she asked. Axel nodded. Her green-golden eyes looked into his ones. "Try to sleep." Axel laid back on the ground and closed his eyes. Lioness´ soft voice had something that calmed him down. Some time later she started singing a song, her voice sounded great. Axel knew the melody, but he never thought Lioness could sing that well. Her voice pulled him into a deep sleep.

**Review, please, don´t forget it!!! Well, I´m a great Lioness/Axel fan. Maybe you can see it in this chapter. ;-) But they won´t get together in the next time. It´ll need some time and I´ve some ideas for a very special end of the two. Just wait a little! **

**Don´t forget to review!!!**

**Thanks!**


	3. Discovered

Discovered

The next two weeks the five friends could ride towards the south without any problems. Meanwhile it was in the middle of july and the days became hotter. They tried to ride through forests because they didn´t want to be in the heat of the sun. It was terrible. The horses breathed hardly just after short distances and the young rebels were tired after two hours of riding. But they kept on riding. They had no other choice.

On the evening of the fifteenth day they decided to sleep near a small lake. Shark tied their horses to a tree in the near of the water, so they could drink something. Greedily they drank the fresh water and sniffed happily. King made a fire, he took some twigs and branches and lit them. The dry grass made it even easier. Axel took their blankets and laid them on the ground. The nights were very warm and they didn´t need their blankets. But in the fall they would. So they took them always with them.

Hawk climed a tree and kept watch. He could see everything from there. Lioness sat on her blanket next to the fire. "Have you ever been in the south? I mean, behind the Mittelknochen, on the other side", asked King. The Mittleknochen was a high chain of mountains that split the country into two pieces, the north and the south. The five friends were at the moment in the north, but in some time they would reach the Mittelknochen.

"No, I have never been there. I don´t know what it´s looking like", Lioness replied. "Well, do you think we can win this battle in some months? We don´t know the south, maybe we won´t reach the rebels or we will lose the fight. Everything is possible, dudes", said Shark and sat next to his friends.

"I just know that the king has about 60.000 soldiers. All rebels together are just about 11.000. That´s not many", added King.

"Oh, the king does not only have soldiers. He has even more", said Lioness in a low voice.

"What do you mean by that?", asked Shark confused. "More than soldiers?"

"Yes. People say that Lee is a master in black magic and that he controls evil creatures. Creatures like the black moon dragons. They have black skins and scales, pint-black horns and eyes like a demon. Thorns are all over their body, their claws are black, too. They can spit fire and they just listen to the orders of Lee."

Shark looked interested and a little scared. King leaned with his back against a tree and listened to Lioness´ story.

"But he doesn´t only have dragons. He has other creatures. They are bigger, worse looking and man eating", added Lioness and twinkled to Axel who just nodded a little so Shark couldn´t see it. Lioness went on,

"They are bigger than a house and have eyes like the devil himself. They can smell human beings in a distance of a hudred kilometres and more. The perfect killing machines, with their black claws, white and sharp teeth and their long, scaly tails."

Shark looked around. "Hey, where is Axel?", he asked quietly. "He went for a walk. Now, listen to the story", said King and Shark continued listening.

"Okay, if you are quiet, guys, you can hear the deep and loud breath of those creatures. They often live in forests like this, some of them prefer the water of small likes, just like this one overthere. Now, listen", said Lioness.

The wind rustled in the bushes and the trees and the pattering of the fire was the only noise in this silent night. The moon threw his light through the leaves of the trees. Suddenly something in the bush behind Shark rustled. Shark turned around and crept a little back of the bush. Then a dark figure appeared and jumped towards Shark. His loud scream resounded in the forest and some birds flew scared into the dark but starry night. As Lioness, King and the shadow began to laugh Shark stopped screaming.

"Axel? Is that you?", asked Shark the shadow. Axel pulled the blanket away from his head. He had made a cape out of it to scare Shark. "That wasn´t funny! My heart stopped beating, dudes!" The three laughed a long time and Axel sat down at the fire again.

Axel took the nightwatch. The others fell asleep at about midnight and he stayed awake to watch out for wild animals or soldiers.

Suddenly the horses began to sniff uncalm. Axel took his sword and stood ulp very slowly. Then he put out the fire so none could see him. A twig cracked. He pulled his sword out of its scabbering and walked towards Lioness. He woke her up and told her to be quiet. She just nodded, took her sword, too and stood up. Behind Axel she walked into the direction where the sound has come from.

A pair of yellow gleaming eyes appeared in the darkness of the night. In all of sudden a black shadow jumped towards Axel and its sharp claws cut his right arm. With a fast movement Axel swang his sword and hit the shadow. Lifeless it fell into the dark grass. Lioness lit the fire again and took a burning branch as a torch. In the light of the fire they saw what the shadow really was. A wolf. Now it laid headless in the grass in his blood. "It looks very hungry and thin. Maybe his group sent him away because he was too weak. That is what we can hope, with a group of wolves we have no chance", said Axel and put his sword back into its scabbering.

"Are you hurt?", asked Lioness. Axel shook his head. "It just cut my shirt, no big", he replied. Lioness sat down at the fire and Axel sat next to her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Axel´s heart beat very fast and he felt this comfortable heat in his body. Some time later Lioness fell asleep again and he laid her on her blanket. Then he laid on his blanket, too, after he woke Hawk up to keep watch. Before he fell asleep, he looked over to Lioness.

The next morning King woke Axel up. Alarmed rolled Axel into fighting position. King looked at him confused. "Are you okay? You seem to be scared and nervous", he said to his friend.

"It´s nothing. A wolf attacked us this night. I fell inot Jo-Lan trance, if some other wolves came. Then I would be awake to warn you", Axel answered and stretched.

Lioness had listened to their conversation. "Trance?", she asked confused and interested.

"Yes, a special trance. With my Jo-Lan I can fell into a trance. My body can get some rest, but I´m awake and can fight if I have to", he said. "My heart beat slows down and my pulse is gone, but I´m still alive."

"Useful", Lioness said smiling and packed her things together.

King stepped over to Shark and woke him up, too. "Shark, wake up!" Shark alarmed and looked shocked. "I´m awake! I´m awake!" Then he looked around, very slowly and tired looking. After he stood up he yawned a long time and packed his blanket on his horse. Axel woke Hawk up. "Hey, I need my beauty sleep!", he murmered. Axel went to his horse and put his blanket on its back.

"I think Hawk isn´t awake", said Lioness. Then she whispered something to the three boys and looked over to Hawk. They all stood around him. "One, two, three!" They grabbed Hawk and carried him to the lake. He was sill snorring. "Okay, guys, time for a bath!" Axel, King, Shark and Lioness threw Hawk into the water. He woke up and screamed, "I can´t swim, help! Help! I can´t-" He stopped at once as he noticed he could stand in the water. "Oh", he just said and stepped out of it.

The others laughed. Shark held his belly and laid on the ground, King supported himself on Axel´s shoulder and Lioness had tears in her eyes. They laughed a long time. "You should have seen your face, dude", laughed Shark. "That was not funny!" Hawk was really angry now. His clothes were all wet. "Thank you very much", he said sarcastically and walked over to his horse.

"I think we should go now", said Axel after he could speak normal again. He had bellyache because of the laugh. His friends nodded and they sat on their horses. They rode through a forest.

But in the forest they saw a group of eight soldiers. It was too late for an escape, the soldiers have seen the small group at first. The soldiers stopped them and they had to sat off of their horses. "Lay your weapons on the ground and show us all your things", one of them said.

"Be careful", whispered Lioness to the others. "No talking!" A soldier grabbed Lioness and held his sword on her throat. Axel became nervous and looked around. The soldiers stood in a circle around them, there was no way out.

"Or what?", asked Lioness. She felt the cold blade at her throat. "Or I´ll kill you. That just need some seconds", whispered the soldier in her ear.

"Wait! Why do you want to kill her if you could sell her like we wanted to do. I mean, such a beautiful girl brings a lot of money. You can sell her as a slave or something else", said Axel quickly. Lioness looked shocked.

"Maybe you´re right...what do you want for her?", the soldier asked.

"She is not very tall, but strong. After some hours of work she will be the perfect slave. You can decide about the price", said Axel in a cold voice. Lioness was scared about how well he could act. Or wasn´t he acting? His eyes didn´t tell any feeling or thought. His voice sounded cold and creepy.

"Okay, here is some money. Now, you can ride on", said the soldier. He weakened his grab around Lioness arm and put his blade back into its scabbering.

"Now!" Axel shouted and attacked the soldier. The others took care of the rest of the soldiers. After a fight of some minutes they had knocked the soldiers out. "That was a narrow escape!", said King. Axel placed his hand on Lioness´ shoulder. "Are you okay?", he asked her gently. "Just a little weak in my knees, but I´m okay", she replied.

"We have to get out of here before they wake up!", said Shark and everyone nodded. They took their weapons, sat on their horses and gallopped away.

"I know it´s very warm, but we should ride through the night in case they are following us", said Axel. "Dude, I agree with you."

The whole way they rode in silence. In the early evening the rain started. Thick, grey clouds were at the sky and the rain pattered on the ground. Lioness looked at Axel. Each muscle in his body seemed to be strained, his face looked nervous. The rain ran down his face and made his darkbrown hair wet. His clothes were wet, too, just like everyone else´s. The rain made it easier to ride and the heat of the day disappeared.

As the next morning came the clouds disappeared and the water on the grass shimmered in the light. The five friends decided to get some rest. They stopped in the near of a thin river and tied their horses to a tree. The smell of wet grass laid in the air and the morning sun threw her light on the plain. Lioness ate something, the others weren´t hungry. Hawk had decided to discover the environment, King fed the horses and Axel just laid in the wet grass and looked at the leaves of the trees above him. Shark drank something at the river and washed his face.

Hawk came back just after an hour. He had discovered a village in the near. "We have not many to eat, so it would be the best to buy something", suggested King. "I´ll come with you", said Axel to Hawk and the two guys went to the village. In the village they got some bread and other things. As Axel walked past a wall he stopped suddenly and stared at a piece of paper that hung on it. As none watched him, he took the paper and put it into his pocket.

Quickly he searched Hawk and told him about his shocking news. Then the two went out of the village and ran as fast as they could back to their camp. They had to tell the others what happened.

**Okay, just forget what I told you in the review to my own...a little stupid to review to your own story, isn´t it? But I saw no other way to tell you that my laptop was broken...excuse this unnormal way, please. Now, I found my USB-stick and could save some documents, here is the third chaper now! Thanks for reading! (I´m very happy that I found the stick!!!)**

**Review please!**


	4. The way to Nazuma

The way to Nazuma

Without breath Axel and Hawk arrived at their camp. Axel took the piece of paper out of his pocket and gave it to King. He read it and his eyes widened. "We found this in the village", said Hawk. King said nothing and looked shocked. Lioness was corious and took the paper. She read it out loud,

"Five young rebels are searched. Four men and a woman, each one in the age of 17 to 20. For information about them and the place where to find them you can get a high prize. These rebels are dangerous, be careful! If they were caught, the death is waiting for them."

Lioness looked at her friends. "Here are drawings of our faces. And they look very like us", she added. Then she showed it to each one.

"Wow, King has a big nose on that picture!", said Shark laughing. King growled something and tried to stay calm. "And you have a hair color like the stuff in your head: strow!", he said angrily.

"Calm down, guys, we have to ride on. If we stay too long at one place they may catch us", said Axel. The others nodded.

"You´re right. Let´s go now. We are all tired, but we have no choice. The rebels are counting on us", said Hawk. He packed his bow on his back. His arrows were in a leatherbrown quiver. They had grey striped feathers of a hawk.

As fast as they could they packed their things and sat on their tired horses. Meanwhile the weather became warmer and the cool air after the rain was gone. "We have to hurry up, I don´t know if they are following us!", said Axel and they rode on. They rode over plains of grass. Just some trees stood there alone on the big green. The horses breathed heavily, but the five friends rode on.

In the afternoon they arrived at a forest. "Dudes, this is the Batenforst! People say here are living dragons, elves and other creatures!", said Shark into the silence. Axel looked at Lioness. _I know one elf,_he thought. Lioness really had an elfin looking. Her brown hair shimmered in the sun and her green-golden eyes looked at the forest. The trees stood very close to each other, so they had to walk.

The Batenforst wasn´t very big, but it was impossible to ride through it. The wind rustled in the bushes and trees and the soil was wet. It took about two hours to go through this forest. The sun started setting and they reached the end of the forest. A big, green plain was in front of them now. "The endless plains", whispered Hawk. Everyone knew about this plains. They seemed to be endless and it would take about two weeks to reach the other end.

"This is a good place to camp. The forest gives us shelter and the next village is very far away. We don´t have to be afraid of soldiers", said King. Axel took the horses and tied them to a tree in the near. Lioness made a fire and Shark collected twigs and branches for it. King laid their blankets on the ground. After a short meal they all sat around the fire.

The sky turned dark and the night came. It was a windy night and the starry sky had no moon. Axel fell asleep some hours after the sun setted.

_A young boy in age of nine hid behind a small hill of fire-wood. He had heard horses coming into the village and now he was frightened of what would come. Ten horses rid into the village and stopped in front of the boy´s house. There were nine riders with red clothes and a golden griffin on their chests. They had long swords on their belts. The small boy ducked behind the fire-wood and watched what happened. _

_But there was another man, a man with darkgreen and black clothes. He was very big and looked creepy. The man sat off of his horse. The boys father came out of his house and stepped towards the man. "Ah, Mr Manning. Nice to see you. You haven´t paid your taxes for this month", said the man in a cold voice. "And I won´t pay them, Paine. The king wants too much and the people are too poor to pay the taxes", answered the father. _

_"Well, if this village is full of rebels we should make a small fire. What do you think?" Paine took a torch that stood next to a house and walked slowly towards the father´s house, its roof was made up with strow. Each house had a roof out of strow. The father ran towards Paine and attacked him. Paine blocked and threw the torch away. It landed it a bound of strow. The strow burned at once and the fire grabbed the other houses. The whole village began to burn. _

_The father still fought with Paine. The riders took torches and lit the strow in the village. People ran around and tried to escape. They screamed and ran. The boy was still in his hiding place and watched the fight. Then Paine hit the boy´s father and he fell to the ground. The boy ran to his father and wanted to help him. _

_"Axel, get out of here. It´s too dangerous. Run to the mountain Athran as fast as you can and don´t stop! We´ll meet us there. Now, run and take care of you, son", said the father to his son as Paine walked slowly over to them. The boy just nodded, he felt the tears in his eyes. The village was a burning hell now. Everything was full of the orange light and dark smoke rose into the sky. _

_The boy ran into the near forest towards the mountain Athran. He didn´t turn around, he just ran his way. As he reached the mountain he looked back. Dark clouds of smoke were at the sky, they were grey, black and darkred. He waited the whole day there, but his father didn´t come. In the evening he began to cry. He cried for a long time and tears ran down his face. His father wouldn´t come. He would never come back. _

Axel woke up sweatbathed. His breath was unregular and fast. He sat up and looked around. First he saw nothing, then he noticed the fire of their camp. It was the only night in this endless darkness. Lioness sat at the fire, awake. She looked at Axel.

"Bad dream, huh?" Axel just nodded and came over to her. "Do you want to tell me?", she asked gently. "Not this time, maybe later", he answered. This dream made him shaking.

"Hey, what´s that on your cheek?" Lioness looked at Axel´s cheek. He touched it with his finger and felt something wet. It was a tear. Quickly he wiped it away. "Nothing", he just said and stared into the fire.

After two weeks the five friends reached the end of the plains. They didn´t met any soldiers or riders and were lucky to see the rebel hiding place of Nazuma. It was a waterfall, a very high one. Axel smiled and took a step through the water. Behind the curtain of water was a giantic door made of wood. A guard stood in front of it, he had a sword in his hands and recognized the five teens as rebels. He opened the door and the five stepped through it.

Nazuma was no big place, just 500 rebels had place in it. The cave behind the waterfall was full of people. They welcomed them and took them to their leader. He lived in a hut at the end of the cave. The others waited in front of the wooden door and Axel stepped in. A man in darkblue clothes and with a darkbrown beard waited for him.

"So you must be Axel Manning. Nice to see you. Welcome to Nazuma!" The man had a friendly deep voice.

"Thank you very much", replied Axel and bowed to the man.

"You can stay here as long as you want. This evening we´ll celebrate a feast for you and your friends! The feast starts one hour after sunset. We´ll give you rooms where you can sleep", said the man. Axel thanked him again.

"Now, I think you all are tired now. Go into your rooms and sleep for a while."

"Thank you. That is very kind of you all", said Axel. The leader let him go and a butler showed the five friends their rooms.

King and Axel shared one, like Hawk and Shark. Lioness got one room for her own. Axel was very tired and fell asleep at once. The journey had taken away all his power. But Lioness couldn´t sleep. She went to the handcraftmen and disappeared in one of their rooms for the whole day.

In the evening Axel leaned against the wall in front of her room. Each room was a small cave in the big cave, separated with wooden doors. Lioness hadn´t come out for half an hour. Before she went into her room King saw her with a small box. Now King and Axel waited for her to go to the feast. "You can go if you want. Shark and Hawk are there", said Axel to his best friend,"I´ll wait for her." King nodded and walked away.

"Lioness, come out! We´re too late!", said Axel and knocked at her door. A second later she opened and stepped out. Axel´s eyes widened in surprise.

"What do you think?", she asked him. Lioness meant her dress. It was darkred and fitted perfect to her eyecolor. Her hair were open and the neckline was strapless. She had a silver necklace with a small dragon. Her darkbrown leather belt was gently wrapped around her waist. Axel couldn´t believe his eyes. He wanted to say something, but then he closed his mouth. He didn´t know what to say, Lioness was really beautiful. He felt the heat coming into his face and the blood rushed through his head.

"You...you´re looking very...beautiful", he said. Lioness smiled and blushed a little. "Thank you. I think we should go now, the others are waiting."

Axel held his arm in front of her. "Mylady?" Lioness smiled again and took his arm. Together they walked into the feasthall. The people danced, ate and drunk there. A group of musicians played happy and fast music and many people danced. Some men drank beer and laughed a lot together. All in all the mood was great. Axel and Lioness sat down at the table where their friends were. The guys were amazed about Lioness´ dress.

After an hour the music turned a little slowlier. Lioness stood up. She took Axel´s hand and pulled him up. "Can you dance?", she asked him. Axel shook his head. "Well, you can learn it now." Lioness placed his left hand on her hip and she took his other hand. Then she placed her right hand on his shoulder and showed him how to move. After some time he had learned it and the two danced together for a long time.

In the late evening the music slowed down. Lioness laid her head on Axel´s chest and closed her eyes. He felt the blood rushing through his head and a comfortable prickling was in his belly. His heart beat faster than normal, the heat went into his head. He never wanted this moment to end, but in some time the feast would be over and they had to stop dancing, unfortunately.

**This was just the beginning of Axel and Lioness...But I don´t want to tell you too much. There is a big surprise for the two in the next chapters...Just wait till the next few chapters and you´ll see! **

**Please review! don´t forget!!! Thx! ;-)**


	5. The first battle

The first battle

The next morning King woke Axel up. "Wow, what happened? Why am I still in the feasthall?", asked Axel as he looked around. King smiled. "Nothing special. You fell asleep some time before me. You danced till late night."

"What time is it?"

"About midday, I guess", replied King and helped Axel up. A chaos was in the feasthall. Tables and chairs laid all over the ground, just like some glasses and the instruments of the musicians. Some people tried to tidy up, but they were very slowly and not many. Axel had really bad headache. He decided to go back to his room and sleep there for a while. The ground of the feasthall has been very hard.

As he passed the tunnel to the next village he heard a scream. A man came out of the tunnel, he was totally in panic.

"Help!!! Help! They are coming, we are all going to die!", he screamed and ran out of the tunnel, his hands in the air.

Axel stopped him. "Who is coming?" The man looked at him with widened eyes.

"The soldiers! The soldiers are coming! They discovered the tunnel!!", he screamed. "They are coming and we´ll all die!"

"How many?", asked Axel and looked into the man´s eyes.

"Maybe about 700!"

"Calm down and search the leader, if they are coming we have to fight!", said Axel and let the man go. Screaming he ran away. Axel was shocked. The soldiers found the tunnel and they would be in Nazuma in latest ten minutes. Axel ran to his room and met King there. Without saying a word he took his sword and wanted to go out. King stopped him. "What´s up?"

"Soldiers are coming and I want to fight."

"You want to fight? Against soldiers? How many are they?", asked King confused.

"About 700. We are just about 100, I think", replied Axel.

"What?...And the letter? They will get it if you fight."

"No, they won´t. Here, take care of it. And please stay here in safe! If we lose this fight you can escape", said Axel and gave the letter to King. He looked at his best friend shocked. "Please, do it. You´re my best friend, can I count on you?", asked Axel and looked at King. He just nodded and took the letter. "Thank you." With this words Axel went out of the room and closed the door behind him.

He saw Shark and Hawk coming out of their rooms. "Hey guys! Do you want to fight some soldiers? They are coming through the tunnel", asked Axel and looked at the two. "Well, dude, let´s defend this place!" Shark took his sword and Hawk his bow. He had thirty arrrows.

"What are you three doing with your weapons? I think we wanted to ride on tomorrow." Lioness stood behind them and looked cofused. "We are fighting now, soldiers are coming through the tunnel", said Axel.

"Dude, how many?"

"A man told me that they are about 700", he replied. "700?! And the letter?", asked Lioness.

"I gave it to King."

"We´ll go now. See you later!", said Hawk and went with Shark to the tunnel. "I have to go now, too. They are coming. Listen, you can hear them marching." Axel paused. A deep sound of marching soldiers resounded in the cave. It was quietly, but regular and became louder.

"Wait a minute, I´ll take my sword and come with you", said Lioness and turned around. Axel looked at her. She wore her darkgreen dress again and her hair were in a ponytail.

"No, please stay here in safe!"

"But I can fight as well as a man, you know that! In the forest I fought with five of them!"

"I know but..." Axel stopped.

"But what?" Lioness became a little angry and he heard the anger in her voice.

"I don´t want you to get hurt, okay?! Now, stay here, I´ll go." He turned around and walked away. But Lioness grabbed his arm. "That is no reason. I don´t want you to get hurt, too, but nevertheless you are going to fight!"

"Lioness, listen! It´s too dangerous. I´ll never forgive me if you died! Stay here!" He shouted at her. Lioness was a little scared. His voice was unfriendly, but she felt he cared about her.

"Okay, but just if you promise that you won´t die", she said quietly. "I promise." Axel´s voice was gentlier now and Lioness let him go. He ran to the tunnel and met Shark there. "Where is Hawk?"

"Look, overthere with the other bowmen", replied Shark and looked to the bowmen. They stood in front of the tunnel in rows. Axel looked around. They were not many rebels, about a hundred he guessed. The sound of marching boots came nearer and nearer. In the darkness of the tunnel he saw shadows marching towards them. Axel pulled his sword out of its scabbering. Shark did, too. "Then let´s fight!"

As the soldiers were near enough the bowmen shot arrows on them. Some arrows came through the shields of the first soldier row and hit them. The lifeless bodies fell on the ground. The rows behind them had no shields. The arrows hit them in their chests or throats. Their red clothes with the golden griffin became darkred because of the blood. The bowmen killed about thirty men. Then the soldiers were too near to shoot at them, the bowmen went to the balconies over the floor with the tunnel. Now they could shoot from above.

Some soldiers attacked Axel. "That´s a little unfair, don´t you think so?" Axel put his sword back into its scabbering and smiled. The soldiers stopped confused. "Hey, come on! A man without a weapon is easy to kill, isn´t he?" The soldiers looked at each other, but then they attacked Axel. He smiled and made a backflip. Then he kicked a soldier and punched the other one. "I said unfair...for you!" Axel took his sword again and continued fighting this way.

Around him the rebels screamed, shouted and yelled. The sound of clashing blades resounded in the whole cave and was very loud. The killed men fell on the ground and their blood streamed out of their wounds. From above Hawk shot another arrow into one soldier´s chest. "Oh yeah, who´s the best?" He smiled and laid the next arrow on his bow. He strained the string and aimed. Then he let the string go and the arrow flew through the air into a soldier´s neck. "Let me answer my question, it´s me!" Hawk took the next arrow and aimed.

Shark ducked under a soldier´s attack. "Wow, dude, be careful with that sword, it´s sharp!" Shark kicked the soldier and he fell to the ground. Suddenly someone attacked him from behind and hit Shark in the back. As he laid on the ground the soldier held his blade on Shark´s throat. "It´s over, little rebel!" Shark noticed something and started smiling. "Well, dude, I think it´s not over...okay, it is over, but for you!" The soldier´s eyes widened and he sank onto the ground. Axel stood behind him. "Thanks dude!" Axel helped Shark up.

"Okay, be careful the next time." Shark looked alarmed and pushed Axel to the ground. A soldier attacked the air instead of Axel and Shark stood his leg into the man´s way. He fell to the ground, too. "Thanks!", said Axel and stood up. "Be careful!", reminded Shark. The two fought together against the soldiers.

"Hey, Axel! Give me some arrows!", yelled Hawk from above. He had no arrows and needed some new. Axel pulled arrows out of the killed soldiers and threw them up to Hawk. "Thank you! OH, look out!" Axel turned quickly around and kicked a soldier. Then he waved with his hand thankfully to Hawk and continued fighting.

After three hours of fighting the rebels won. They have killed many soldiers, the rest ran away. But there were now just fourty rebels of hundred. Dead bodies laid all over the ground and blood was everywhere. Axel and Shark were tired, but smiled at each other. They put their swords back into their scabberings. "So many blood...you should look into a mirror!", said Axel. Shark looked down at himself. His clothes were cut and torn into pieces, blood were on his clothes. But Axel didn´t look better. He had a cut at his right arm.

"Axel!" As he heard his name Axel turned around. Lioness came towards him and pulled him into a hug. Then she hugged Shark. "I´m so glad to see you guys!" Lioness smiled. "The others are not so happy, I see." Women and children knelt beside the killed bodies of their fathers, brothers, husbands, uncles, cousins. Blood was on the ground and made the cave darkred. Hawk came down to them. "Where is King?"

"He´s waiting for us at the south-exit. The leader told us to ride on now, if some soldiers would come back. Then we wouldn´t have enough rebels to defend this place. We have to go now, hurry up!", said Lioness and pulled the others with her. King waited with their horses at the exit. "Here is the letter!" He gave the envelope to Axel who smiled. "Thank you."

Then they sat on their horses and rode out of the cave, out of Nazuma. As the sun setted they camped on a field. In the east was a high hill with a tree and Hawk decided to keep watch on it. He took his bow and walked to the tree. The others fell asleep and got some rest for a while.

In the early mornig Axel woke up. He looked around. In the east the sun rose and the sky turned red and orange. Axel stood up and took his blanket. His friends were still asleep as he laid the blanket on the back of his horse. Something small grazed his hair and he jumped a step backwards. An arrow bored itself into the soil. It had grey feathers of a hawk, so it was one of Hawk´s arrows. Around its shaft was a piece of paper. Axel took the paper and read it.

_Hurry up! Riders of the king are coming from the east. Five riders, I think. Wake the others up and warn them, I´ll come back. _

_Hawk._

Axel looked into the east where the hill with the tree was. Hawk ran back to them, in his hand his strained bow. He waved with his arm and showed Axel to hurry up. Axel woke his friends quickly up and they packed their things as fast as they could. Shark sat on his horse. "Hurry up, dude, riders of the king always have fast horses. Ours are tired and we have no big chance to escape!" Hawk jumped on his horse and the five teens gallopped away. The hooves of the horses rose dust.

King looked around. The riders were on the top of the hill, sixhundred metres behind them. "Faster, guys, they saw us!" The riders were very fast and came nearer and nearer. Lioness´ horse was too slowly and she fell behind the small group. The horses breathed heavily and were gasping loudly. "Lioness, your horse is too slowly!", yelled Shark to her. "No, really?", she replied with sarcasm. The riders were just a hundred metres behind them.

Axel made his horse slowlier and rode next to Lioness. "Why did we bought such an old thing?" Lioness shook her head. "Maybe because it was cheap?", she answered. He said nothing and looked back. A rider was now seventy metres behind Lioness and him. "They´ll get us!" Suddenly the legs of Lioness horse collapsed and the animal fell on the ground. Lioness was thrown out of the saddle and now she laid passed out on the ground. Axel rode back and lifted her quickly on his horse. "Shit", he cursed as he saw a rider just twenty metres behind him.

He sat on his horse and laid Lioness in front of him. Then he rode on. The rider came nearer and nearer and Axel couldn´t fight him with Lioness, she would get hurt. As the rider was short behind him a brown arrow with hawk-feathers hit the man in his throat and he fell lifeless on the ground. His horse was scared and ran into another direction. Axel looked to Hawk who smiled and held his strained bow in his hands. He took another arrow and aimed on the second rider. This time the arrow hit him in his chest. This way Hawk killed the five riders and the friends could ride on.

"Is she hurt?", asked King. "Not badly, I think. We have to get some rest, I can´t carry her the whole way like now", replied Axel and they searched for a camping place. They found one in the near of a river in a forest.

"Narrow escape", said Hawk and tied his horse to a tree. "You owe me six arrows", he said to Axel. Axel took one arrow out of his pocket. "Five arrows."

"We were lucky they didn´t caught us. But the next time we have to be more careful", mentioned King.

"Dudes, I hope she´ll wake up in some time. Otherwise we can´t ride on very well." Axel just nodded and laid Lioness on a blanket.

**Please review!!! The next chapter is in progress!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. In love?

In love?

Axel laid another blanket on Lioness and took a cloth to clean the wound on her forehead. As she fell on the ground she hit a stone there and now red blood streamed down her face. After he cleaned her wound he sat down next to her and pulled his sword out of its scabbering. With the cloth he wiped the blood away from the blade.

Meanwhile King counted their money. "It doesn´t look good. We have not many to eat and if we bought something in the next village we wouldn´t have enough to buy victuals in the next weeks. We need to save the rest of our victuals or find a hiding place of rebels in the near. But I don´t know any here in this area", he said and looked worried.

"Do you think they are following us?", asked Shark after a moment of silence. None knew the answer. Axel stood up and put his sword back into its scabbering. "I think the next rebel-hiding place is about three days away from here. We should ride on in case if the riders are following us. This place is not safe." He walked over to his horse and ran with his hand its soft neck down.

"I don´t think the horses will make it", guessed Hawk. "They have to." With this words Axel took the blankets and laid them on his horse. Then he lifted Lioness into his saddle and sat behind her. Since they began this journey he seemed to be the inofficial leader of their group. He was often serious and disciplined, but in other situations he had a sense of humor and joked with the others. He kept cool in difficult situations and knew what to do.

The four young rebels rode on. Lioness sat in front of Axel in his saddle. It was about midday and they would reach the next hiding place in about three days if Axel was right. After an hour of slowly riding they reached another forest. This one was different than the forests they knew. It was the forest in front of the big mountain chain, called Mittelknochen. This mountains split the country in two halves, the north and the south.

This forest was the biggest one in Landmark. And the oldest: People say it was about thousand years old. Creatures like trolls are living in it, that was it what the people in this area thought. Now the old and gnarled trees stood very close together, thick and white fog was between them. An owl screamed for a second, then there was silence. The friends stepped into the forest. Somehow the sun didn´t came through the leaves of the high trees and so it was dark as if it was night.

"In this forest none will find us. It´ll take two weeks to reach the mountains", said King. They found a camping place and made a fire. Axel gave Lioness something to drink and cleaned her wound again. He splashed some water into her face and hoped she would wake up. But she didn´t move. It worried him that she didn´t wake up in the last hour. He laid his head on her chest and listened. A regular heartbeat told him she was still alive. Relieved he walked over to the fire.

After he had sat down an arrow with hawk-feathers bored into the groung next to him. A message was wrapped around its brown shaft. Shark took the message and read out loud,

"_I´m hungry, throw a bread up to me. Hawk."_

"Since when is he in that tree?", asked Axel confused. "Since you cleaned Lioness´ wound. He took his bow and decided to keep watch", smirked King and gave a piece of a bread to Shark. Shark smiled and aimed on Hawk.

Then he threw the bread up to him and hit him on his forehead. Hawk rubbed his forehead angry and cursed. But he was too high, so the others couldn´t hear him. "Well done, Shark", cheered King and laughed. Shark sat next to him at the fire. Axel didn´t laugh. He looked at Lioness and his face turned serious again.

"Do you think she´ll wake up?", he asked.

Shark grinned. "I think someone fell in love with her", he said to Axel.

"What do you mean?" Axel acted as if he didn´t know what Shark meant. But of course he knew.

"You know it very exactly what I mean. But does SHE know it, too?"

That was enough. Axel stood up and went to the horses who were tied to a tree next to a small creek. He sat down in the soft grass and watched the water.

"Did I say something wrong?", asked Shark King. He just nodded and threw some twigs into the fire.

Axel sat the whole afternoon there. He watched the dark water and sometimes he saw a frog or a bug crossing his look. In the evening he didn´t want to go back to the fire. He wanted to be alone. As the sky turned darker he went to his horse and sat down next to it. "I need a name for you", he said quietly to the dapple-gray horse. "What about Athanyr?" The gelding snuffled quietly and looked at his owner. "I see you like this name."

Hawk sat in his tree and Shark and King were asleep. Shark snorled a little. Axel missed Lioness´ near. He always could talk to her and she always listened. But now? Now she was passed out and leaned against a tree. So Axel whispered to Athanyr and told his horse everything that laid on his heart.

Lioness woke up in the late evening. She saw Shark and King sleeping near the fire. Axel and Hawk were gone. But an arrow was in the soil and she looked into the direction where it came from. In a high tree she noticed Hawk, he was asleep, too. She looked around and heard a familiar voice. It was Axel, he sat near his horse in the grass and talked to it. Lioness stood up and sneaked over to him and stopped as she could understand what he said.

"Do you know what it is like if you are in love with someone, Athanyr? I can just tell you, it´s great. You feel happy all the time if you are around her and your heart beats faster than ever before. If I´m around her I can hear my blood rushing through my head and I´m blushing a little. Sometimes it´s terrible, but then it feels good. I don´t think you know what I mean, horses are different from human beings."

Lioness sneaked nearer to him. She wanted to know if he talked about her. Suddenly Axel stood up and tapped the horse on its neck. "Too bad you can´t talk with me. But you can listen very well." The gelding snuffled. Axel turned around and stopped shocked as he noticed Lioness just two metres behind him. He hoped she didn´t listen to him. His heart began to beat very fast and he felt a little emberassed.

Quickly he passed her and hoped she wouldn´t do anything. "Wait", she whispered and Axel stopped. He didn´t turn around, because he didn´t want to look into her eyes. She took his arm and turned him around. She looked at him, but he avoided her look. "Thanks", she said. "For what?" He looked now into her eyes. No, he stared into them. "That you saved me. Otherwise the soldiers would have caught me", she replied.

"No big. Friends help each other, don´t they?" His heart beat faster and faster as she took his hands. He heard the blood rushing through his head and he nearly passed out because of this sound. A terrible heat came up in him. "Of course." Lioness came closer to him. She came closer with her face to his. As she closed her eyes to kiss him, he quickly went away, took his blanket and laid on the ground next to the fire.

After some minutes his heartbeat was normal again and he could think clear. _Idiot! She wanted to kiss you and what have you done? You idiot walked away, _he thought and hated himself for what he did. He loved Lioness, but he couldn´t think clear in her near and he nearly passed out because of the rushing blood in his head.

Lioness still stood there. She looked disappointed at Axel. She thought he played a trick on her, because first he talked with his horse about love and now he had walked away. Lioness felt betrayed and miserable. She took a blanket and laid into the soft grass near the creek. Some tears ran down her face. She loved him and wanted to show him that, but now she just asked herself many questions. Why did she love him if he wasn´t interested in her? Why did she want to kiss him? Why did he do that to her?...

She knew not any answer on all of these questions. After some time she fell asleep, cold tears ran down her cheek and fell into the soft and dark grass under her head.


	7. Maybe another friend

Maybe another friend

The next day began terrible for Axel. He woke up and was in a bad mood and hated himself for what happened the last evening. He stood up, packed his blanket on Athanyr and threw some twigs into the fire. "Dude, it´s just a hunch but I think you are in a bad mood", noticed Shark. Axel growled something and sat on the ground. King came back the the camp, he had some branches in his hands. He laid them under a tree and sat next to Axel. "What´s bugging you?" Axel shook his head. He didn´t want to talk now, so King kept quiet.

An arrow with grey feathers bored into the soil. Axel took the message around it and read it. Irritated he looked at Shark. "Hawk is hungry, he wants some bread", he groaned,"Try to hit his beautiful face this time!" Shark grinned and nodded and took a bread. Then he threw it up into the tree. But Hawk ducked, so it didn´t hit his face. After he caught the bread out of the air he started eating.

Axel looked over to Lioness. She sat in the grass next to the creek and stared into the water. Axel took his brave, stood up and walked over to her. "Hey, don´t you want to come over to the fire?", he asked. She sat with her back towards him and didn´t move. After a long moment of silence he walked back and took the reins of Athanyr. "I think we should go now", he said quietly. He walked slowly with his horse into the forest. "Let´s hurry up before he is gone", said King and packed his blanket on his horse. Hawk came down from the tree and jumped the last metre.

Lioness came over to the guys and waited till they were ready. Then they followed Axel, but Lioness was at the end of the group. She didn´t want to talk to him, she didn´t want to see him this day. They found Axel after some minutes, he waited at a large and tall tree. The whole day he was quiet, just like Lioness. King, Shark and Hawk talked and joked a lot, but Axel felt miserable and didn´t want to talk to anyone.

The next three days passed very quickly. In the late afternoon of the third day the five friends arrived at a fallen tree with a diameter of least twenty metres. In its wood was a symbol: A dragon that was around a sword. "This is the hiding place of Ruknar. It´s famous for its horses", explained King and stepped towards the symbol. He pushed the eye of the dragon and a door opened in the ground. "Wow! That´s really amazing, dudes!", said Shark impressed.

Behind the door was a guard. He saw the five teens and welcomed them. He opened another door and let them pass. A small guy took their horses. They asked one young man in their age for the way to the leader of the rebels in Ruknar. "Welcome here, I´m Eric. Follow me and I´ll show you the way." They followed him and he led them to a big house. Lioness, Shark, Hawk and King waited in front of the gate, Axel stepped in. Eric waited with the four.

"So you are the people who have to bring the people into the south?", he asked interested.

"Yeah, that´s right, dude. We have to get through the Mittelknochen and then directly to the south hiding place", answered Shark.

"This is very dangerous, I think. So why is this beautiful lady with you?" He looked at Lioness. She blushed a little as he kissed her hand gently.

"Bootlicker", whispered Hawk to King who just nodded.

Axel came out of the door. "He allows us to take a horse for Lioness and to stay here for a night." As he mentioned Lioness´ name he didn´t look at her. "I´m sorry that we didn´t get to know us. I´m Axel", he said to Eric. "This is King, this guy is Shark and this is Hawk."

"Let me guess, this wonderful young lady is called Lioness, isn´t she?", said Eric and bowed to her. She blushed a little, again. "Let me give you a horse for her. The best we have."

They went to the stablings and Eric went in. He came out with a black mare. "This is Rythra. She is very calm and one of the best horses in this stablings", said Eric and gave the reins to Lioness. She sat on the horse and rode around the stablings. As she came back she smiled. "She is wonderful", said Lioness as she gave the reins back to Eric. "Just like you", he whispered to her. She blushed again.

Axel felt nauseous as he noticed how Eric spoke to Lioness. After Eric showed them their rooms, each one got one for himself, Axel laid on his bed and tried to sleep. But he couldn´t. Some hours later he stood up. It was some hours before sunset. He went to the stablings and searched Athanyr. He found his horse and stroked over the soft skin of the gelding. Then he buried his face in Athanyr´s neck and stood there for a while. He could hear the breath of the horse.

As he heard a laugh he looked up. He saw Lioness and Eric together. Lioness said she wanted to go back to her room and said good night to him. She gave him a long kiss and walked back to her room. Eric went into another direction. Axel felt a cramp in his belly and an uncomfortable sickness. He had never felt anything like those feelings. He went back to his room, too. After some hours, shortly before sunrise, he fell asleep.

The next morning King came to him. He told Axel Lioness was in search of him. He stood up and found Lioness at the stablings. She saddled Rythrar and packed her things on the back of her horse. "There you are", she said and didn´t turn around. "I´ve good news. Eric will come with us!" She smiled at Axel and passed him. "Very great", said Axel with sarcasm as Lioness was gone. The day started very wonderful for him.

Then he took his things, too, and packed them on Athanyr. The three other guys came a little later and packed their things. After an hour they were all ready. Eric came to them with a brown horse. "Let´s go now", said King and they left Ruknar. The forest behind this hiding place wasn´t very close so they could ride very well.

In the evening they stopped on a clearing and made a fire. Lioness and Eric decided to collect wood for the fire and the two disappeared in the forest. Shark went into the forest, too. He wanted to search for water. Hawk climbed a tree and took his bow. Axel sat at the fire, next to King. King looked at his best friend.

"What´s up? Since some time you are very moody", he said. Axel sighed. None was around, so he decided to tell King what had happened.

"It was on the evening Lioness passed out. I was awake in the late night and talked to my horse. I missed someone I could talk to", he began and stared into the fire.

"And what´s the bad thing?", asked King.

"Well, I talked with Athanyr about Lioness. How wonderful she is and stuff. I thought none could hear me. But that was it, Lioness stood right behind me and she had listened to me." He paused. After a moment of silence he continued,"She came very close to me, somehow I felt sick and happy at the same time. But I´m such an idiot! She wanted to kiss me, and now guess what I did!"

"No idea, tell me."

"I just walked away. That´s why Lioness is mad at me and why she don´t want to talk to me... Maybe she is thinking now, I played a bad trick on her so she got egg on her face... What shall I do?"

"You could apologize to her for what you did. It was just a simple misunderstanding", replied King and placed his hand on Axel´s shoulder. Suddenly Shark came back.

"In the near is a great creek! I swam a little, hope you didn´t wait for me, dudes", he said smiling and sat down. Now Axel and King noticed his wet clothes.

"You should go and search for Lioness and Eric. They are very long gone, I think", said King to Axel. He gave him a _then-you-can-say-sorry_-look. Axel just nodded and stood up. He went into the forest and searched for the two. He heard them laughing on a small clearing. Quickly he hid behind a tree and sneaked over to them. They laid in the soft grass close together. As they kissed for a very long time Axel felt the sickness coming back. This time it wasn´t great to see Lioness, especially with another guy. It felt like a cold and icy sword drove against his heart. He had enough and went back to the camp.

Without saying a word he passed the camp and his confused friends and walked fast into the forest. "What happened?", shouted King after him. Axel didn´t turn around. "You can ask that our two turtle doves!", was the aggressive answer.

Shark stared into the direction Axel was gone and noticed King´s confused look. "I think our dude will calm down in some time. I guess he was introduced to a feeling called jealousy", said Shark.

**I hope you liked this chapter as well. Thanks for reading and please review! Thank you!**


	8. A big betrayal

A big betrayal

Axel walked nearly ten minutes with a fast tempo aimless through the forest. He tried to get the picture of Lioness and Eric out of his head. The moon threw a sallow light through the trees and the fog stole Axel his view. Some flowers had closed their blooms after sunset.

He saw nothing, so he sat down on a cold rock and buried his face in his hands. He still tried to get this picture out of his head. He couldn´t. Why had he did this mistake? Why had he gone away as Lioness wanted to kiss him and not this guy Eric? Everything would be better now, very better. But that was just a thought, a thought that would never become true. You can´t change the past. What happened, happened.

After some time Axel climbed a high tree. He could see the Mittelknochen in the south, the moon high at the sky. In the east he saw the sky turning a little yellow, it was early in the morning. In the north was their camp. He saw the smoke of the fire and another tree that was high above the other trees. In the sallow moon light Axel saw a person sitting on that tree. I must be Hawk.

Axel saw Hawk moving. After some moments an arrow bored into the tree just shortly next to his ear. A message was wrapped around the brown shaft. Axel took the message and read it. In the sallow light he couldn´t read it very well.

_Why did you go away? King wants me to tell you that you should come back to us. Now. _

_Hawk._

He pulled the arrow out of the tree and watched the night for some minutes. Then he put the message in his pocket and climbed down. He walked slowly to their camp. As he arrived there he saw Lioness and Eric together, they were asleep in the arms of each other. This picture gave Axel a sick feeling in his belly. He looked away and noticed Shark snorring near the horses. King sat at the fire and waited for him to sit down. Axel did and stared into the flames of the fire.

"So what are you going to do?", asked King after a momtent of silence.

"What shall I do?", asked Axel back instead of answering.

"You shouldn´t be that jealous because of this guy. We´re going to travel with Eric the next long time and you should see him as a friend and not as a bad guy."

Axel didn´t answer and stared into the flames. A thin trail of smoke rose into the air and the fire colored it yellow and orange. Suddenly another arrow bored into the soil next to King. "I think this guy is trying to kill us with his messages", he grumbled and took the arrow. After he read it he looked at Axel. "Hawk saw a small village in the forest. It doesn´t seem to be guarded. He thinks we can look there for victuals. It´s two days from here", he said.

"He can think?", asked Axel joking and smiled a little. "Maybe, but his one brain cell is a little too overstrained", laughed King and threw some twigs in the fire. Axel took the arrow and threw it up to Hawk. Then he went to his horse and took his blanket. It was in the end of July, but he froze. He took his sword and laid it next to him on the ground, so he could take it if someone attacked them. Three hours before sunset he fell asleep. It was a unregular and not deep, but dreamless sleep.

The next morning he was the first one who woke up. He took his blanket and tied it to Athanyr´s saddle. The gelding snuffled quietly as Axel saddled him. One hour later his friends were awake and ready, too, and they continued riding. Hawk led the group because he knew the way, Axel followed him and King rode next to his best friend. Lioness and Eric were at the end of the group and rode close together.

In this two days Lioness didn´t pay any attention to Axel. He was like air for her. They didn´t talk and she didn´t look at him. The village laid in the middle of a meadow and had about ten houses. They stopped at the edge of the forest and Hawk sneaked around it to look for guards. A small wall made up of wood was around the village. The wood of the wall seemed very old and broken.

Shark laid in the soft grass and looked up into the sky. King sat on a small rock and Axel leaned against a tree and watched Hawk sneaking around. Lioness and Eric were close together and sat in the grass. Axel glanced over to them. Since they knew they would go to this village Eric looked nervous. Maybe it was just a stupid feeling, thought Axel, but something told him Eric changed a little.

As they heard a crack behind them they all turned around and took their swords or went into fighting position. It was just Hawk. After they put their weapons away he began to speak. "Well, it isn´t guarded. I even sneaked over to the wall and saw the buildings. There are five farmers, a bowmaker, a man with shields, women with herbage and another house", he said. "And what are these guys doing here?", said Lioness and pointed at five riders who rode into the village. They had red clothes and belonged to the king.

"I think just two of us should go. I´m going voluntary. Do you want to come with me?", she asked Eric. He hesitated a moment, but then he walked with her. "Okay, Axel gives you the money for the arrows he wanted to give me", said Hawk. Axel took his money and gave some coins to Lioness. Then the two went to the village.

"I don´t like this guy. It´s okay that Lioness is happy with him, but have you seen his face if she didn´t watch him? He looks angry and annoyed", mentioned Shark. He still laid on the ground, his eyes closed.

"I think he is unlikable", added King and counted the rest of their money.

Hawk took out a grindstone and sharpened the heads of his arrows. Axel asked him for another grindstone and started sharpening his blade. The sound of some birds and of the grindstones were the only sounds in the forest. At first Axel sharpened the side of the blade with the A in it. After he finished he sharpened the other side. There was a blue dragon that was around a sword. That was the symbol of the rebels and each smith made it in the swords.

Nearly half an hour later Lioness came back to the four guys. She was running as fast as she could. Axel stood up and put his sword back into the scabbard. Lioness passed the boys and ran into the forest. They saw her face was full of tears. "What´s up? And where is Eric?", asked Hawk confused. "Axel, go and ask her what´s up", said King to him. "Why don´t you go?", he gave back and stared angry on the grass. "I would go, but I don´t want to stand up", said Shark.

"Very kind of you", said Axel and angry he followed Lioness. He found her at a small spring. She sat in the grass and had her knees pulled up to her chest. She stared into the water. As he was behind her she jerked a little. He didn´t saw her face and was a metre behind her. Her back was turned towards him. "What´s up?", he asked her but he didn´t get an answer. "Go away", she sniffed quietly and didn´t turn around.

Axel sat down next to her. "You´re sure you don´t want to talk?", he asked her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked up. Her green-golden eyes stared into his ones. There was this feeling again, this prickle in his belly and the heat in his head. All this came back as Lioness looked into his eyes.

Suddenly she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest. She began to cry. Axel didn´t know what to do, so he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight to him. Her face was red and full of tears and she just cried. He stroke her hair and tried to calm her down. Some minutes later she stopped crying and he asked her what happened.

She laid her head on his chest and after some moments she told him. "We split up. I cared about the arrows for Hawk and he wanted to buy the victuals. I was earlier ready then I thought and went to the place we wanted to meet us again. Then I decided to search him. I found him...near a house...he stood there with another girl...and...and they kissed...very long...", she said quietly. Axel didn´t know what to say.

"So I just ran away...why did he betray me? ", she asked sadly and buried her face in his clothes. "He don´t know what he did", said Axel to her. "I have an idea. Let´s leave him here and rode on", he suggested and stood up. "Good idea", said Lioness, stood up, too and tried to smile. But the shaking in her voice was very obvious. They walked back to their friends and told them what happened.

Then they sat on their horses and rode on as fast as they could. Lioness face was still red and a little wet. But meanwhile she smiled.

**Please review! Thanks for reading! I hope you like this chapter, too! **


	9. Kidnapped

Kidnapped

Nearly one week and a half they were travelling without Eric. They had left him at the village in the forest and before they left Axel even cut the belt of Eric´s saddle. In some days they would arrive at the Mittelknochen, then they would have to leave their horses because there was no way in the mountains. To go with horses there wouldn´t be useful, it would kill the animal. So it was the best to leave them.

In the late evening the five friends were all tired. They were too tired to seach a clearing, so they decided to sleep in the middle of the forest. King made a fire and Hawk didn´t sleep on a tree, he took his blanket, laid on the ground and fell asleep. Just like Shark, he was very tired and fell after some minutes in a deep sleep. In the last days they rode longer and more often. So it was not wondering that they were all tired and had no energy.

Lioness fell asleep, too, and King who should keep watch, was after twenty minutes asleep. Axel was the last one who fell asleep. The last days had been better for him, because Eric was gone and with him the bad sickness in his belly. Now he and Lioness were friends again, they talked to each other and were a great team. But he still hoped for more, he still hoped she would love him, too. But till then he would be too shy to tell her about his feelings.

Axel dreamed of dark, black dragons that spat blue fire and burned the forest they were in. He heard a woman screaming his name. It was a quiet and weak voice, but it became louder. Then he noticed he wasn´t dreaming, the voice was real. He opened his eyes and saw Lioness screaming. Three tall and wild looking men were around her and tried to tie her hands. The men had red hair and dark leatherclothes. They were very strong and Lioness tried to kick them. She kicked one man and wanted to kick the one behind her, but three other men came over to her and grabbed Lioness.

She had no chance and seconds later her hands were tied to her legs. Axel fought with five of this men, but suddenly something hit his head and he fell passed out on the ground. Everything around him went dark and he heard the fuzzy noises of a fight.

As he woke up, his friends were gone. He laid on the soft soil of the forest, he still was in their camp. Quickly he looked for the lettter, it was fortunately on its place. A little relieved he looked around. He felt warm blood streaming down his face, it came out of a graze on his forehead. He remembered what had happened. Big men with red hair and long beards had been in their camp. Axel had heard of men like them. They were bandits who attack people in forests. They are coming very fast and they disappear often as fast as they came.

Axel looked around and stood up. He noticed Hawk who was tied up. He leaned against a tree. A piece of clothes was in his mouth so he couldn´t speak. He saw Axel was awake and tried get his attention. Axel walked over to him and cut the ropes. "Thanks, the ropes were very tight", he said as he was free. "Where are the others?", asked Axel.

"King is in the bush overthere. They had thrown him into it after he tried to attack them. I don´t know where Shark is", replied Hawk.

"And Lioness?"

"They took her with them. I don´t know why, but they just kidnapped her. Shark followed them to save her. I heard some screams and it was too dark to see what happened. Stupid guy, wanted to fight over fifteen men alone!", replied Hawk. "Have you seen my bow?", he asked in addition.

Axel went to King and woke him up. "What..what happened?", he asked confused. "The men kidnapped Lioness and Shark, too, I guess", replied Axel.

"Then we should follow them and save the two!", said King and wanted to take his sword from his belt. It wasn´t there. "Hey, where is my sword? My skean is gone, too!"

"My weapons are gone, too. They took them", guessed Axel. "But that doesn´t matter. We can fight without weapons", he added.

"Let´s follow the tracks", said King and took a closer look to the soft soil. Then he found the right direction and the three guys followed them.

Lioness opened her eyes. She looked around and moved a little. Her hands and legs were tied up and she laid in a small, wet cave. Through a window with iron bars. It wasn´t very big and some light was thrown into the cave. The ropes made grazes into her wrists and she tried to loosen them. But it didn´t work. She remembered what had happened the last night. The men had kidnapped her. The others had been left. Shark had followed them for a while, but the men knocked him out and threw him into the bushes somewhere in the dark forest of the night.

_Please, Axel, find me as fast as you can_, she thought and leaned her back against the raspy wall behind her. She closed her eyes. Her head was aching a little and she hoped Axel would find her.

King stopped to search the tracks again. Some parts of the ground were dry and so there were no tracks on it. He knelt down and looked concentrated at the soil. Suddenly something rustled in the bushs behind them and they turned around. Axel went into fighting position and each muscle in his body was strained.

Then Shark came out of the bush and fell on the ground in front of the three boys. "Hey, dudes", he mumbled confused and tried to stand up. Axel helped him. "Where is Lioness?", asked Axel.

"They kidnapped her and as I tried to save her they knocked me out. I just remember I flew into the bush here, dudes", he said.

"I found the tracks", said King and they followed them again.

An hour later they found a camp. It had brown and violet tents and violet flags were on them. Some horses were tied to a tree and in the middle of the camp was a rock. It was some metres high. The men with the raid hair seemed to be everywhere between the tents. They had very wide blades and looked scary with all their hairy arms and faces. Some of them had braids in their beards. Their clothes were haggled and looked old.

"We need a deflection for them, then I can go and search Lioness", whispered Axel. They hid behind some trees.

"What about a small fire in the tent over there?", said King and smiled. He took his flints and showed them Axel.

"Great idea", he cheered.

"And our weapons?", asked Shark.

"I´ll go and search them. Then you can find her", said Hawk.

"Okay, let´s go!" King sneaked to the tent and lit some dry grass. By second it burned and the flames went over to the next. Quickly the red haired men ran to it and tried to extinguish it. But there was no water around. So they took blankets and beat them on the fire. While all men where at the fire Axel and Hawk ran out of their hiding place and looked around.

"Look into the tents", said Axel to Hawk. He took the twentyfive on this side, Hawk looked into the thirty on the other side.

Axel hid behind the giantic rock and waited till a guard walked away. What Axel didn´t know: He touched a small stone with his foot and it fell through the iron bars of Lioness´ prison. It fell on her head and she looked up. "Axel? Are you there?", she asked in a whisper. Axel looked around. He hadn´t seen Lioness around him. "Lioness? Where are you?" "Here!"

He looked through the bars and saw her face in the darkness. "I´m tied up, I can´t move!", she whispered up to him. "Don´t worry. Try to go away from the bars." Lioness did what he told her and crept to the other side of the cave. "Okay, and now?", she asked interested.

"Just see and learn!" With his Jo-Lan Axel blasted the bars and some of the stone away. Now there was a big hole in the wall. "Cool", said Lioness. He crept through the hole and knelt down beside her. "Are you okay?", he asked while he loosed the ropes around her arms and legs.

"I´m fine. The ropes were just very raspy and made grazes in my wrists. But that´s no big", she replied and stood up after he freed her. "Let´s go to the others. They´re waiting in the forest", he whispered and they crept out of the prison. Quickly they ran to the hiding place of the others and hid behind the bushs.

Hawk was there, too. He had a bundle of weapons. "So, here is King´s sword and skean, this one is Shark´s and this sword is your´s, I guess." He gave the sword with the black scabbard to Axel. "Oh, and this is yours", he added and gave Lioness the sword with the interesting form. "Thanks", she said.

"What about our horses?", asked King.

"They are gone. I was awake the whole night and the men cut the reins of them. Then they ran away in panic", mentioned Hawk.

"And this are you telling us now?!" King grabbed Hawk on his shoulders. "Calm down, guys. We have to go away from here, or they´ll see us. We don´t need the horses anyway. In three days we could reach the Mittelknochen, then we have to climb. So, let´s go", said Axel and the five friends, together again, sneaked through the forest till they were sure none could see or hear them anymore.

"I want to know if we have to fight when we´re fighting against the king, dudes", mentioned Shark and broke the silence that has lasted the last hour.

"I don´t know what you´re going to do, but I´ll fight", said Axel. He walked next to Lioness, one hand laid on his sword.

"Of course we´re fighting with you", replied King and placed his hand on Axel´s shoulder.

"And we will help you." Shark and Hawk agreed with King.

"And what about you?", asked Axel and looked at Lioness. She looked to the ground. "They won´t let me fight because...I´m a woman. You know what they´re saying, a woman on the battlefield brings unluck", she replied.

Axel smiled. "You needn´t fight if you don´t want to", he said.

"I want to fight. But I´m afraid...to lose my friends", she added quietly. Axel smiled again. This time it was because she was afraid to lose her friends. And him. It was the first time she said she felt fear.

Axel placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him. She smiled and took his hand. Lioness took his hand away from her shoulder, but she held it the whole time. So they walked hand in hand behind the others. Axel felt a warm and comfortable feeling in his belly and he didn´t know if it was just a feeling, but Lioness walked closer to him than before.

As Shark turned around Lioness quickly let Axel´s hand go and looked away. Axel looked into her face and noticed she blushed a little. Maybe it was just the light of the sun that came through the leaves of the trees, but he knew it wasn´t an imagination. She really blushed for seconds. Smiling he walked next to her and thought of what would happen in the next weeks.

**Thanks for reading this chapter, too! Well, you know that this story is the translation of "Der Brief des blauen Drachen". But it isn´t just the translation. I made some changes. I don´t know if you know this feeling, but if you read your story a second time, you get some other ideas for changes and stuff. So I made some changes as I translated this story. Oh, and in addition: The story in german isn´t finished yet. Maybe you know my notebook got broken. **

**Unfortunately the last chapter of it was saved there, so I have to write it new. But first I´ll finish THIS story in english, then the german one. So please don´t be confused if you read the story in german and notice I made some changes that sometimes do not really fit to the german version. I hope you understand this!**

**Thanks for reading and please review!!! Don´t forget!!!**


	10. The Mittelknochen

The most dangerous mountains in Landmark

After three days of walking they reached the Mittelknochen. Like bones the sharp and grey, raspy mountains, rocks and stones stood there and splitted the country of Landmark in north and south. The name "Mittelknochen" came out of the german and meaned something like "bone in the middle". And this translation was right. The mountains really looked like bones, cold and darkgrey they rose up into the sky. Some of them were deep in the grey-blue clouds. In the west the five teens saw dark, black and cobaldt-blue clouds of a thunderstorm coming nearer.

"We should go through the mountains before the storm arrives", suggested King. They started climbing. No, the first part of their way was easy and they needn´t climb very often. But in the afternoon the rocks steepened and it was very difficult to find the right way. The day passed very fast. In the evening it was very cold and they had no blankets to reheat.

"Let´s make a fire", said Axel and looked around. There were just some dry bundles of grass, no other plants grew in this grey hell of stones. King collected grass and lit it. The wind was very hard and so it was very difficult to lit the grass. After some big clouds of black smoke and fifteen minutes they had a small fire. It didn´t reheat them and the wind nearly put it out with each blast.

"Fortunately it isn´t winter, so it is not that cold", said Hawk and tried to make the mood better. But none said anything. It was a silence that laid heavy on the five teens and the hard wind was the only sound in this mountains. Axel pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. King sat there with crossed legs and his arms were wrapped around his chest. Hawk rubbed his hands and held them over the fire, but it didn´t reheat him. Shark had his knees up to his chest, too, and held his hands over the fire. Lioness leaned her head against Axel´s shoulder and wrapped her arms around her knees.

She looked into Axel´s eyes. Their blue color seemed to be green in the light of the fire. Sometimes she thought his eyes told her each feeling, each thought he had. But in other moments they seemed to say nothing. That was it why she found his eyes that interesting. She could look into them for hours.

Some moments later Lioness fell asleep. Axel was happy that she was next to him. Meanwhile he didn´t know yet why the men with the red hair had kidnapped her. Maybe they were working for the king. But why had they left him and the other men? It all didn´t make sense. Now he was happy she was next to him again.

Her body was warm and warmed him. He felt her regular breath and her chest rose up and fell down in a regular rythm. Hawk wasn´t tired, he took out his grindstones and sharpened the arrowheads. After he sharpened them he used a special oil to make the wolfram harder and to give it a longer life.

The darkness came and the night was colder than the nights in the forest. The wind blew very hard and pulled on their clothes and hair. Dust and some soil were in the air and the wind blew it into the faces of Axel, King, Hawk and Shark. Lioness was asleep, so she didn´t notice it. After some time the guys fell asleep, too. The tiredness was too big and so they fell into an undeep and dreamless sleep.

The next morning wasn´t warmer. The clouds of the storm were very near now and the dark, grey and sometimes black colors looked dangerous. Sometimes a lightning flashed and the thunder growled through the mountains just ten minutes later. The strong wind blew dust and soild into their eyes and they held their hands in front of their faces to see something.

For some moments Lioness saw nothing because a hard blast of wind caught her. She closed her eyes and suddenly a stone rolled under her feet away. She fell on the ground, screamed a choked scream and slid on the steeply ground till she stopped a few metres behind the four guys. Carefully she stood up and walked over to them. But as she took a step her left leg collapsed and she fell on the ground. Axel came over to her and helped her up. "Can you walk?", he asked and looked at her. Her dress was haggly and she had some grazes on her arms.

"Not really", she replied.

Axel took her arm and laid it over his shoulders, then he wrapped his other arm around her waist and held her up. They continued walking and Lioness tried to walk as fast as the others, she didn´t want to make the group slowlier. Axel felt the warmth of her body and the prickle in his belly. Every time he was around her it came back. It was a fantastic and sick feeling at the same time. But mostly fantastic, he thought.

The higher they came the landscape turned more grey. And the air was colder than before. There was no plant in this mountains, but fortunately the wind weakened. The whole day they could keep on walking without any problems. They were a little slowlier because of Lioness, but she tried not to notice her aching leg and she tried to walk normal again. Axel held her up and helped her a lot with this. She was very grateful that he was there for her.

But in the early afternoon the first barricade came: An upright wall was in front of them and it was about seventeen feet high.

"Well, dudes, we don´t have a rope", noticed Shark and looked at the group. After a short break he added ,"Don´t we?"

King shook his head. "We have to climb or search another way", he suggested.

"But that will take too much time", said Hawk.

"I think Lioness can´t..." Axel stopped. Lioness went towards the wall and looked at it. After some seconds she found a place where she could hold on. She placed her right foot on a stone and pulled her body up with her arms. She tried not to use her left leg. "Forget what I said", mumbered Axel and followed her. This way the five teens climbed the wall. King was the first one who was above. Shark and Hawk followed him close. Axel stopped shortly before he reached the edge. Lioness hung under him and paused.

"What´s up?", he asked.

"Nothing", she replied and continued. She placed her left leg on a small edge and cramped her face because of the pain. She used her left leg for a second, but then she slipped off on the stone and lost her hold.

"Sure?", he asked and climbed down to her. "Maybe not everything is okay", she mumbered and found no hold with her legs.

King, Shark and Hawk waited above. "Where are they?", asked Hawk upatiently. Then Lioness came up and sat on the ground. Axel followed her. "Next time", he began,"You´ll be more careful with what you´re doing. I don´t want to carry you every time we´re climbing." Lioness laughed. "Promise", she smiled. Axel stood up and walked over to the young men.

In the next days Lioness could walk again. And that was good: The mountains became more steeply and the air colder. One day the thunderstorm arrived at the five teens. The cold rain pattered on the ground and made small lakes into the stony ground. They burst on the hard ground like glass and their splinters flew in each direction. The sky was as dark as the night and just the flashing lightnings lit the night. The rocks looked dangerous in the white, flashing light. Like monsters who waited for their meal.

Seconds later the thunder growled.

_Dhrummmmmmm..._

Like the growl of a dangerous, misterious and very big animal. "Guys, I think we should camp here. I can´t see the hand in front of my eyes!" Axel was right. It was very dark and the only light in this cold, rainy night were the lightnings. Axel felt that his clothes adhered to his skin and the cold water ran down his face and washed the dirt out of it. He couldn´t feel his fingers, they were cold. The others didn´t feel better. They were wet, tired, hungry and cold.

They decided to sleep under a small ledge. It was too wet for a fire, so they just sat there and tried to reheat without the warm flames of a fire. Axel stared into the darkness. The thunder was very loud and when it came the whole ground vibrated. The lightnings seemed to cut the sky into pieces. Now they all saw the true face of this mountains: corruption and death.

The castle of Naratros stood in the middle of the plains called Algiswar. Its walls and buildings seemed to be black in the darkness of this night. It didn´t rain, but thick clouds were at the sky and made everyone scared who looked at the castle in this moment. The walls were extreme thick and guards with swords and shields stood on them. A giantic, wooden door belonged to the throne room.

"You´re really thinking the rebels are planning an attack? Why are you so sure of that?" King Lee stood up and looked down at his adviser, Paine. The face of this man was full of scars. Scars that would never recover. A man called Sebastian Manning inflicted this scars upon Paine. But Paine had destroyed the village of this man as he didn´t want to pay the taxes. Manning had left only one child, but his son has never been found.

"My spy told me." Paine stood up and called someone in. The dark shadow stood now next to Paine. "Tell the king what you know", he ordered.

The figure nodded and started, "You know I lived in Ruknar for a long time. But one day, it was one or two weeks ago, a group of five teens came to us. I heard they should bring a special letter to the south. This letter was the order of the north rebels to attack us in march next year. I could win the trust of one of them and she told me everything, about the date of the attack and lots more."

"So that´s all? Why didn´t you find out more?", asked Lee with anger.

"She found out one of my secrets and they left me in the forest. But they didn´t know I was working for you", added the spy quickly.

"Don´t worry, my king, I´ll show these kids what pain means", smiled Paine evil.

"It would be a pleasure to me if I was allowed to help you." The shadow agreed and bowed to the king. He stepped into the light of some torches. The dancing flames showed the face of Eric.

The next morning started sunny. Lioness opened her eyes and felt her wet clothes. They were as cold as ice. She sat up and noticed she laid with her head on Axel´s lap. His chest rose and fell down in a regular rythm. His back leaned against the wall. She woke him up. Alarmed he sat up and his head hit the stone over him. With a loudless scream of pain and a course he touched his head and searched a wound. But there was nothing. Lioness tried not to laugh. "That´s not funny", said Axel a little angry and stood up.

They woke the others up, too, and continued walking. Shark whispered something to King and pointed at Hawk. King looked at Hawk and laughed. "What´s up?" Hawk was obviously confused. What he didn´t know: Shark had placed a small slug on his head. Slowly the small animal tried to get out of Hawk´s head. Hawk noticed something in his hair and touched it carefully. As he noticed something wet and slymy he screamed and threw the snail away.

Quickly King caught it and placed it gently on a rock. "Don´t do this to it!", he said. "Err, Hawk, you have some slime on your forehead", mentioned Lioness and giggled. Axel smiled. Hawk wiped it quickly away and his friends laughed now.


	11. The south

The south

In the afternoon they reached the end of the mountains. Now there was a big plain in front of them. Some groups of trees stood lonely and everywhere in the plain. In the southeast laid the castle of the king, in the south was the rebel town Reustra. In nearly two months they would arrive there.

"Hawk, can you see soldiers?" Hawk walked towards a high rock and climbed it. He looked around. "Err, I can see a camp of soldiers with five tents, fourteen men, fifteen horses, a fire and a bundle of swords. Good for you?", he asked back.

"Yeah, very good", replied Axel and smiled. "When could we arrive there?", he asked. Hawk was confused and looked again to the camp. "Maybe tomorrow moring. But why do you want to go to them?"

"One word, my friend: Horses." Axel started walking. The others followed him.

The plains were green and the trees stood like small isles in this green sea. Sometimes the grass reached the hips of the teens, so they could hide very well. The whole day they came nearer to the camp of the soldiers without being seen. They hid behind a small forest just a hundred metres away from the tents and decided to sleep there. Then they would steal the horses in the early morning when the soldiers were sleeping.

They didn´t make a fire because it was meanwhile very warm again and the soldiers could see the smoke. Shark sat into the grass. "Dudes, I really miss some lakes to swim. My skin is drieing like the skin of a fish in the sun", he said and laid on the ground. "Shark, you ARE nearly a fish", smiled King and sat down next to him.

Shark shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. Axel walked slowly over to the trees behind them and turned around. "I´ll go and watch the camp of the soldiers. I´ll tell you if something happened", he said and disappeared between the bushs and trees. He sat down in the soft grass in front of a tree. He was a little higher than the camp and could look down at it. The sun started setting and painted the white tents with an orange and red light. Soft, yellow clouds were at the sky.

Suddenly Axel heard a noise behind him and turned quickly around. As he noticed Lioness he relaxed again and leaned with his back against a tree.

"Sorry, I didn´t want to disturb you", she said and sat down next to him. "But the guys are a little..."

"...different?", he ended her sentence. "Why are you coming to me then?"

"You´re the only one I can really talk to. You´re...normal", she said quietly.

"Normal? I think you don´t know what normal means", he said surprised. This time he felt just his fast heartbeat, he didn´t blush. Lioness looked at him confused.

"Well, don´t think it´s normal if a boy lost his father because someone killed him. And it´s not normal that the boy came to the rebels and practised a very rare martial-art he learned from his father. And ten years later this boy became nineteen and now he has to bring a letter to the rebels in the south. Moreover this letter plays a very important role for our all future. Do you think this is normal?!"

"Okay, then the guys are different and you are...all-round. I mean...you can fight without your sword, you´re the perfect leader of our team, ...you are friendly, yo have courage and you know if someone is lying at you. You...knew Eric was betrayer."

This name gave Axel a sting in his heart. He had hoped he would never hear this name again. He had just forgotten him. He noticed Lioness was sad as she spoke out the name of the betrayer.

"I didn´t know that this is my character", he said quietly. Lioness wasn´t really right. He hadn´t many courage. Well, in a fight he had it maybe, but in the love...? He was afraid he would lose Lioness forever if he told her he loved her. Or she would laugh at him. That was the reason why he didn´t tell her about his feelings. Fear.

"Very often in my life I met men who were gently animal lovers, like King. Men who were relaxed all the time, like Shark. And men who were egoistical like Hawk. But never I saw someone like you. That´s why I think you´re the only one I can talk to. I can feel you will always be there for me", she said. Lioness looked at the sunset.

"But I´m afraid", he said.

"Of what?"

"I...I am afraid to fight and lose my friends forever...so please, do me a favor and..." He stopped.

"What favor?", she asked and looked at him.

"Forget it", he whispered and stared at the camp of the soldiers.

Lioness stood up. She knew he wanted to be alone. "Then...good night", she whispered and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Then she disappeared in the small forest. Axel felt he blushed a little and the heat came into his face. The blood rushed through his head like the stormy sea. The prickle in his belly was very strong and comfortable. Axel looked at the sunset and closed his eyes for a moment.

The whole night he sat there and watched the camp of the soldiers. But nothing important happened. Some times the soldiers walked around their tents. Axel noticed they did it always twice an hour. He waited till some time before sunrise and stood up. He went to his friends and woke them up.

"It´s time now, the guards walked around the camp some minutes ago. They´ll do it again in the next half hour, so we have enough time, I guess", he whispered to them. They all nodded and followed him. The grass was very high, so they could sneak through it without being seen. The five teens reached the horses and everyone took a horse for himself. As they heard footsteps, Axel hissed something and they laid quickly on the ground. It was a guard. He looked around, but fortunately he couldn´t see them. Some moments later he went away.

Then they took their horses and sneaked away with them. As they were a hundred metres away from the camp they sat on the horses and rode away. In the east the sunrise started and the sky was painted in a red light. Axel looked at Lioness. Her brown hair seemed to be red in the light of the sun. Her haggled dress fluttered in the warm wind of the morning. Lioness felt watched and looked at him. She smiled as she noticed he quickly looked away.

"Guys, I´m hungry", mentioned Shark at midday. "Shark, we´re all hungry." Since the mountains they hadn´t eat anything exept their dry bread. The hunger was always with them. Shark kept quiet. But in the afternoon he suddenly noticed something between the trees. "Dudes, is this a lake?", he asked hopefully. Hawk stood up in his saddle.

"He´s right, there is a lake!", he agreed.

"I don´t say this very often, but you are sometimes really useful, Shark", smiled King.

They tied their horses to a tree. Shark went to a rock that was half in the water and looked down. The dark water shimmered in the sun and the wind frilled the wavy surface. "I guess here are some fish", said Shark and looked into the water. Hawk went to him and stopped next to Shark. "Sure? I can´t see any", he said and looked curiously into the lake. Shark smiled. "You just need a closer look", he grinned and hustled Hawk. He fell into the water.

"Help!!! I can´t swim!!!", he screamed and tried to swim. Shark jumped into the water, too and pulled Hawk nearer to the edge. Then he let his friend go. Hawk got panic and struggled wildly. Shark went out of the water. "Hawk!" Hawk stopped and looked at him. He noticed the water wasn´t very deep. "Oh", he just said and walked out of it, too.

King had made a fire. "So, and you are going to catch some fish?", asked Lioness interested. She sat next to the fire and looked at Shark now. He pulled a thin braid out of his pocket and tied some bread to its end. Then he walked over to the rock and sat down on it. He threw the braid into the water and waited. "Do you think he´ll catch something?"

This question was answered nearly an hour later. Shark came back to them with six fish, everyone as long as his forearm. The others helped him and put the fish on twigs. These twigs were bored into the soil near the fire, so the fish hung over the flames. King sat down at the fire and watched the fish. Sometimes he turned them. Shark went back to the rock and looked into the water. "Too bad that here are no really waves to surf", he said and jumped into the lake.

Lioness put off her belt with her sword. "What are you going to do?", asked Axel confused. She smiled and pulled him towards her. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist and it seemed she hugged him shortly. As she let him go his belt with his sword and the letter fell on the ground. "Hey, why...?" "Wait a little", she said and took his hand. She pulled him to the rock. Now he stared into the dark water. "You should know I can´t swim very well", he mentioned as they stood there.

"But I guess better than Hawk, don´t you?", she asked back. He smiled and nodded. Suddenly Lioness jumped into the water and pulled Axel with her. The water splashed as they dove into it. Shark came over to them and pushed Axel´s head under water. Surprised he forgot to draw breath, so he came up and coughed a little. He swam to Shark and pushed his head under water, too. But then Lioness came and pushed Axel under water again. The three laughed a lot and tried to push the others under water.

Then Lioness dove into the water. She disappeared for nearly half a minute. Suddenly Axel felt something pulled at his leg and he was pulled under water. He opened his eyes, but the water was too dark to see anything. He came up again. Lioness came up, too. She laughed and the three swam back to the edge.

"I hate water", said Hawk in a low voice. He sat with King at the fire and saw Axel, Shark and Lioness coming back. The sun started settin as they ate the fish. Their wet clothes dried very fast, it was the end of summer and the fire was very warm, too. They talked a lot till the late night and hoped they would reach the rebel hiding place in the next two months.

**I hope you liked this chapter:P**

**Please review, thanks:-)**


	12. Vengeance

Vengeance

The next few weeks the five teens just rode into the south. Through very big plains of grass, through small forests. They didn´t met any soldiers or found villages and towns. This part of the country seemed to be empty. The weather became worse and it rained more often. Sometimes they rode through the rain, but if the rain was too hard they stopped and stood under some trees and waited till it was over.

It was in the middle of september and the trees turned red, yellow and brown. Even the grass seemed to change its color. It looked more brown than green. Every day it was cloudy and it seemed to rain. The air went colder and in the nights each breath left a small cloud in the air. If it rained their clothes were very wet and they couldn´t move very much. The coldness crept up at them.

But one day they found a village. The teens went in and bought what they needed. Blankets, for example. They split up to get their things faster together. The inhabitants of the village were very nice and gave them everything they wanted. Axel bought a blanket and went to the market place. Suddenly fifteen riders of the king with red clothes came into the village and stopped on the market place. The villagers came curiously nearer.

A sixteenth rider appeared. He looked different. He had red clothes, too, but they seemed to be more expensive. So he had to be an important man. A hood hid his face. He descended from his horse. A man of the village, he seemed to be twentyfive or older, went towards the man and stopped in front of him. "What do you want?", he asked. His voice shook a little, he was scared.

Axel hid behind a house and watched what happened. Lioness came to him. Quickly he pressed his hand on her mouth and told her to be quiet. She nodded and he let her go. Then they watched the happening on the market place.

The man with the hood spoke up, "You didn´t pay your taxes for this months." His voice was deep and raspy. Somehow Axel knew this voice, but why?

The villager replied, "We don´t want to pay. The king is too avaricious, moreover we CAN´T pay."

"You know what that means. You all have to die if you don´t want to do what the king orders", said the man with the hood and laughed.

"NO, we´ll fight you all. We are more than you", replied the villager. But his voice shook very hard, he was scared.

The man of the king pulled his sword out of its scabbard and put off his hood. Now Axel saw his face. Hot tears came up in him and the feelings he felt ten years ago. He looked at the murderer of his father. But now he had scars in his face. Every muscle in Axel´s body strained and the hate he felt for this person was like a snake that bit into his heart. The name of this person was a big pain in his heart. Paine.

Before he knew what he did, Axel ran to Paine and kicked his sword away. Now he stood between Paine and the villager. Surprised Paine looked at Axel.

"What do you want, little boy?", he asked and laughed.

"Vengeance", replied Axel shortly. He noticed his voice was shaking.

"Great joke, really great joke! Why do you want vengeance?"

"You killed my father, ten years ago"

"I killed many men, little boy. So I don´t remember everyone", said Paine and laughed again. The villagers around them looked scared and watched interested why Axel wanted to fight Paine.

"I think you´ll remember him. His name was Sebastian Manning." Axel felt the heat coming up into his head. He hadn´t heard his father´s name for a very long time.

Paine seemed to get in rage. "Now I see the similarity between you two. And your characters are the same, too. You´re such a fool, just like your stupid daddy!"

That was enough for Axel. He attacked Paine and kicked him. Paine was surprised, but blocked easily. Then Axel punched, kicked and attacked Paine in a fast order, but each attack was blocked. Paine just laughed. He grabbed Axel´s head and a green light flashed. Axel felt a hard pain in his head, like thousand nails were bored into it. He screamed and the pain went harder. But then he passed out and everything around him went black.

Lioness ran over to Paine and wanted to help Axel. She kicked Paine who was surprised and fell some steps backwards. He let Axel go who laid on the ground now. He didn´t move. Lioness went over to him and tried to wake him up. She noticed her friends coming to the market place. As King saw her and Axel he nodded to her and attacked the riders of the king. Now the villagers acted like them and fought with swords, branches and their hands. They were too many and in the chaos of the battle Shark, Hawk and Lioness carried Axel out of the village.

King followed them seconds later. Back at the horses they laid Axel into the grass. Hours later he woke up.

"Who was this man?", she asked Axel as he could think clear again. His head was aching.

"He...he killed my father", replied Axel shortly and stood up. "But I never knew he could do something like this. The pain was very hard and felt like thousand nails in my head...I just remember I passed out", he added. "Is he still in the village? I must fight him!", said Axel after some moments.

"No, he is gone an hour ago. The villagers have won this fight and he could escape."

Axel growled something and walked over to his horse.

"We have to go now", said King. Before they rode on Lioness passed Axel very close and put a small piece of paper into his pocket. Then she sat on her horse like the others and they continued riding.

In the evening they decided to camp near a small creek. King and Hawk made a fire, Shark laid in the grass and dozed. After a short meal Lioness stood up and disappeared between some trees. She said she needed some time to think. Axel stared into the flames of the fire. On the piece of paper Lioness gave him before was just a short note. _I must talk to you, alone. _

Nearly fifteen minutes later he followed her. "You...wanted to talk to me?", he began quietly after he found her. She nodded and waited till he sat down next to her.

"And why?", he asked.

"I want to tell you something about magic. The green light Paine used was magic. Magic is a very old and mysterious force and you need years to control it. But not everyone can do magic. You need to learn it from a witch or a sorcerer. Or you have this magic in your blood, like the elves."

"That´s all?" He looked at her. Lioness stared on the ground.

"I wanted to warn you. This magic can kill you easily, with the right spell or force. So...please take care of you...", she whispered.

Axel just nodded and felt his head became hot. His heart beat very fast and the prickle in his belly came back. Lioness was worried about him? Maybe she liked him, too? He noticed her face. "What´s up?", he asked her worried.

"Nothing", she just said and stood up. She left him alone in the small forest.

**Thanks for reading this chapter!!!**

**School has started and I think it´ll take some time till I can finish the next chapter...just wait some time...**


	13. Side effects

Side effects

The next whole day they rode without a break. They were afraid Paine and his men could find them. Just one month was between the friends and the hiding place of the south. They had heard there were living about 13 000 rebels. A very big number, but the king had nearly 60 000 soldiers and maybe more. So the chances of a win were not very good. But they wanted to fight and try to get free.

The date of the battle was in the march and a journey from the north to the plains of Algiswar took five months. Maybe the rebels in the north were planning their journey now.

Tired and hungry the five teens stopped in the near of an old and very high tree. They tied their horses to the tree. Around them was just grass and this tree was the only one on the plains. "It´s cold", noticed Hawk and wrapped his arms around his chest. King looked at Axel whol just nodded. So he made a small, but warm fire. Axel still felt the pain in his head. The headache didn´t become better, they became worse. The pain stung into his head and one time Axel cramped his face and held his head with his hands. He breathed hissing.

Shark looked at him. "I think you don´t feel very good, dude", he noticed. Axel shook his head. The pain was gone for a moment. "I´m okay", he said. Lioness shook her head and went to her horse. She knew Axel was lying. He had bad headache and tried to hide them. She took her blanket and went back to the fire. But then she stopped and looked at the ground. She took a small plant and came back to the fire.

"Here, this is valerian. It´ll stop the pain for a while", she said and gave Axel the plant. He hesitated and took it. "Eat the leaves. They´ll help you", she said and sat down.

"I´m okay", he said again and hoped he needn´t eat this plant.

"I don´t believe it! You can lie without blushing?!", she shouted at him. Surprised he looked at her, then at the plant again. "Do you think I´m that stupid?! I can see you have pains! Don´t be so silly and eat this plant!"

"Just if you promise me something", he said, "promise that you won´t get angry that fast the next time." She nodded and Axel ate one of the leaves. In disgust he spit it out. "What is that?!", he asked confused. His friends laughed.

"Valerian. Should I have mentioned it tastes bitter?" Lioness smiled at him.

"Yes, you should have", said Axel in a low voice. Lioness looked at him. Now she was confused. Before she could do anything he grabbed her and tickled her. Lioness laughed and couldn´t do anything. Her head turned red because she couldn´t draw breath. After some moments he let her go and Lioness breathed very fast. "You´re so unfair", she said between two breaths.

Axel shrugged his shoulders and ate the valerian.

"Paine will pay for that. And that I must eat this bitter plant", said Axel after eating the valerian and laid into the high grass.

"You´ll get your vengeance", said King, "I heard Paine is the leader of the king´s soldiers."

"Then...we´ll see him again in march, next year", said Axel quietly and closed his eyes.

Axel´s headache came back in the late night. He woke up and couldn´t sleep because of it. He sat up and looked at the fire. It was nearly put out. The blaze was glowed red and some smoke rose up into the air. Axel closed his eyes and tried to forget the pain in his head. But there was another thing that annoyed him. The hate of Paine. His chance to get vengeance for his father was gone, just because he had been too slowly.

"Still headache?", asked a low voice behind him. Axel turned around and recognized Lioness. The light of the blaze threw a red and gleaming light at her face. "I´m sorry, but valerian just helps for some hours."

"Don´t worry. It helped me for some time", he replied.

"I´m sorry I didn´t tell you enough about magic."

"Is there anything else I should know?", he asked and looked at her. Lioness smiled.

"There are many things you should know, but in the moment you need just a few", she said. "For example the side effects. Paine could concentrate pain on you and this pain will stay in you for the next weeks, I guess. It depends on how long he stayed in contact with you", she explained.

"Not longer than twenty seconds", guessed Axel. Lioness thought for a moment. "Another thing is how strong Paine is. If he is a real master the pain will stay for some weeks", she said.

Suddenly Axel stood up. "What are you going to do?", she asked confused and watched him.

"Practise a little Jo-Lan", he answered smiling. "I´m trying to forget the headache", he added and walked a little away from the fire. Then he stood there and looked at Lioness. She understood and walked over to him.

"You´re sure we can fight here? In the middle of the night?", she asked. "You needn´t fight with me...but I want to get tired", he smiled.

"Well,...I don´t want to hurt you..." Lioness couldn´t end her sentence. Axel attacked her and kicked her legs. Quickly she jumped into the air and made a backflip. "Don´t worry", he just said and started with his next attack. Lioness blocked it and jumped over him. She landed behind him and tried to kick him. Axel blocked her kicks and kicked her. She blocked it, but it was a little too hard and she took a step backwards. Axel used this moment and jumped towards her. He landed with his hands on her shoulders, grabbed her clothes and used his own push to threw her on the ground.

He could forget his headache and was concentrated. Lioness rolled onto her feet again and ran towards him. Axel thought she would try to kick him, but shortly in front of him she went to the ground and slided through his legs. She grabbed his legs and pulled him to the ground. Axel was too surprised about this attack and fell hardly. He rolled back into fighting position, just like Lioness.

Nearly an hour later the two stopped. Axel laid next to the fire and some moments later he fell asleep. Lioness couldn´t sleep. Her heart beat too fast and her breath was too heavy. After she threw some twigs into the blaze of the fire she sat down next to Axel and watched him. Her breath and heartbeat calmed down and later she fell asleep, too.

The next morning was foggy and cold. Though it was fall and the days normally were warm it was really cold. The five teens rode on with their blankets wrapped around their bodies. Each breath left a small cloud in the morning air. Hoarfrost was on the grass and made the hooves and legs of the horses wet.

"Dudes, do you know the way?", asked Shark after some time.

"We´re on the right way", said King.

"Really sure of that?", asked Hawk.

"No." Hawk moaned. "Do you know when we could arrive at the rebel hiding place?", he asked some minutes later.

"I guess...in a month", replied King. "But we have horses and maybe we just need...30 days of this month", he added.

"Good, just thirty day- Hey! You´re teasing me, aren´t you?" Hawk looked over to King who smiled.

"No, why should I?" The sarcasm in his voice was very obvious. Shark giggled. Lioness smiled, too. But Axel didn´t laugh, he even didn´t smile. Lioness looked at him worried while King and Shark were still teasing Hawk.

"What´s wrong?", she asked him worried and looked into his face.

"Well,...I still have bad headache", he answered shortly.

"That´s not your problem. Tell me what´s bugging you", she said.

Axel looked at her for a moment. "Okay...I´m afraid of the battle. Since we met Paine...I´m not sure we can win it", he said.

"Don´t worry. We´ll win. All rebels together are really strong", told Lioness.

"And what about the black magic? If Lee really has those energies we will all die."

Lioness said nothing. She knew Axel was right. Black magic was very strong, she had read about it. And one story had been really interesting. It was about how to break a death-spell. It was very difficult. If someone died because of this spell you could bring him back to life, but just if the dead person was in love with someone who loved him, too. And that was so difficult. It was very difficult to find the one who loves the dead person, too. And that was the reason why nearly all people died who were killed by this spell. Lioness didn´t know how to break other spells. She just knew this one.

She hoped she would find the one who really loved her. And she hoped she could break that spell if the king really was a master of black magic. What she didn´t know: The one she hoped to find rode next to her on a darkbrown horse.

**Keep this chapter in your mind! It will be important for the end of the story...But I don´t want to tell you too much. ;-)**

**Please review and tell me if you liked it!**

**Thanks!!!**


	14. The end of a long journey

The end of a long journey...

In the next three weeks they rode through a nearly dead landscape. The grass was yellow and brown, the trees (there were not many of them) were red, yellow, orange and sometimes nearly brown. The october came and the five teens felt it. Every morning there was fog and they couldn´t see very far. The grass was very often wet and it rained nearly every day. The temperature of the days went down, so it was very cold in the morning and in the evening.

Axel, King, Lioness, Hawk and Shark dragged themselves through a forest. Fog was everywhere, the ground was muddy and big roots were all over the trail. They couldn´t ride but directed their horses through the forest. They were all tired and without energy. Moreover they were hungry, a little thirsty and felt bored because of the long journey.

Axel didn´t notice the way. He remembered why he had left his home. Then he got the answer: To fight for his freedom. This journey had taken him all his power. But it had some good things, too. He got to know his best friends King, Hawk and Shark. And he fell in love with Lioness. Axel smiled as he remembered this reason. His headache were gone some days before and he could think clear again. He felt really better and his bad mood was totally gone.

He didn´t see the root on the trail and fell over it. He landed with his face in the mud. Slowly he stood up. The others laughed and he smiled, too. But then he stopped suddenly. He wiped the mud out of his face and stared at something. The others stopped laughing. Confused they went to Axel and looked at what he saw: A big rock was in front of them. But there was something special. A blue dragon with a sword was on this rock.

"We´re there", whispered Axel. "We are really there!" He said a little louder for a second time. Now their journey was over. Their mission was nearly complete. And Axel´s vengeance had come a little closer to him. The others realised this now, too, and cheered. Axel hugged Lioness, Shark hugged the two together and King hugged Axel, Lioness, Shark and Hawk all at once.

Then Axel opened the gate to the hiding place. He pushed the eye of the dragon and the big rock slided two metres away from them. A big corridor was behind it. They passed some guards and came into a huge cave. Torches were at the walls and spent light. The people there were very busy and didn´t notice the five new people.

After they looked curiously around a young boy in age of nine and three other, older guys came over to them. "Welcome here. If you allow, they´ll take your horses to the stablings", said the young boy. The teens just nodded and the three older boys took their horses and went away with them.

"I´m Alnor. What do you want here in Reustra?", asked the boy. He had darkbrown hair. With his clear, blue eyes he looked at Axel. "We want to talk to your leader", he replied.

"Then follow me", said Alnor and showed the teens the hiding place. There were really many people. Smiths, handcraft men, women, children and old persons seemed to be everywhere. Axel knew there were nearly 13 000 rebels in Reustra. He looked at the boy in front of him. Alnor reminded him a little of himself. "Where is your father?", asked Axel.

Alnor´s look became sad. "He died nearly half a year ago. The soldiers of the king killed him", he said quietly and walked on. "I´m sorry for you." Axel was a little scared. This boy was nine year old, had no parents and had darkbrown hair and blue eyes. Was this really a fortuity?

The boy directed them to a hut. It was really big. He opened the door and stepped in, the five teens followed him. There was a big room with torchs at the walls. A table stood in one corner. Some candles stood on it. Exept a chair there was no furntiture in this room. A man stood in front of the teens and smiled at them.

"Welcome! I´m Dresan, the leader of the rebels here. What are your names?" The man had a nice voice. His beard was nearly red, like his hair. He wore brown clothes and black boots. Axel told him their names.

"We want to give you something", he added and gave the letter to Dresan. He opened the envelope and started reading. After reading the letter he looked surprised at the five teens. "A battle?", he asked slowly.

"Yes, in march", agreed Axel. "Then we´ll help you, of course! Till march you can stay here, if you want. Alnor will show you your rooms", said Dresan.

"Thank you very much", said Lioness.

"This are really interesting news...What about a small feast today in the evening? I mean, we should celebrate that we´ll fight for our freedom."

Dresan asked them lots of things. What their journey was like, what they saw and so on. Nearly two hours later he let them go and Alnor showed them their rooms.

"A long time we had no guests, but your rooms will be okay, I guess", smiled the boy. "If you need something, call me", he added and left. Everyone chose a room. King looked at Axel. "He looks a little bit like you, don´t he?" Axel just nodded.

"Guys, if I have to stand here for a longer time, I´ll sleep standing like the horses!", mentioned Shark and went into his room. Hawk yawned for a very long time and went into his room, too. King did the same. They were all tired. Axel and Lioness stood alone in front of the guestrooms now. "Now we just have to wait till march and..." She didn´t finish her sentence.

Axel looked deeply into her eyes. Her look fascinated him, he couldn´t look away. Lioness came a little closer to him. Axel felt the heat coming back into his head. He heard the blood rushing through his ears and his heart beat faster than normal. The prickle in his belly returned. Lioness still came closer to him.

Suddenly Alnor came back. Lioness heard him and turned quickly around. She blushed a little. "Well...err...I´m tired...see you later", she just said and disappeared in her room. Axel had blushed a little, too, but fortunately she hadn´t notice it.

"You like her, don´t you?", asked Alnor.

"You are really bold", said Axel smiling instead of answering his question. He liked this boy more and more.

He walked into his room, Alnor followed him. There was a bed, a table and a chair in his room. Alnor sat down on a chair that stood in the corner of the room. Candles spent light. On the bed laid some clothes. Axel took the shirt and looked at it. "This looks very...courtly", he said.

"It´s for the feast today", explained Alnor. Axel laid the clothes on the table and laid on the bed. He closed his eyes. "Dresan told me it starts an hour after sunset. You should be accurate. And...Axel? Are you listening?"

Axel breathed deeply and in a regular rythm. He was asleep. Alnor shrugged his soldiers and went out of the room. Quietly he closed the door and went away.

King woke Axel up some hours later. "Hurry up, we´re too late!", he said. Axel quickly stood up, got dressed and washed his face. "Okay, what do I look like?", he asked his best friend. He wasn´t sure if he had gotten dressed right. "Nice, let´s go now!"

The two went to the feasthall. They saw Hawk, Shark and Lioness sitting on a table. They hurried over to them and sat down. The feasthall was huge and very full. Music played and torches spent a warm light. Many people laughed, talked and drank together. Then there was a big dinner. After the dinner Alnor came over to them. "Nice dress", he said to Lioness. She wore a red dress and her hair were open. A silver necklace shimmered in the light of the torches. She smiled.

The music started again and many people started dancing. "Well, see you later, guys", said Shark and went away. "What is he doing?", asked Hawk.

"The whole evening he stared at that girl overthere. And you can guess what he is doing", replied King. Shark went over to a girl and a blue dress and asked her to dance with him. Some minutes later they danced between all the couples on the dancefloor.

"Why are you two not dancing?", asked Alnor as he noticed how Axel stared at Lioness. Before he could answer Lioness did. "I want to dance, but my friend here is afraid to be seen together with me", she replied smiling. "I think this evening we could make and exeption", said Axel and stood up. Lioness followed him to the dancefloor.

"How did you make this? I want them to dance since we are here!", said King and looked at Alnor. He just shrugged his shoulders.

Axel and Lioness danced for a very long time. But then Lioness suddenly felt sick and dizzy. She ran out of the feasthall to get some fresh air. Axel followed her worried. "What´s up?", he asked. "I don´t know...I just fell so..." She couldn´t end her sentence but passed out. Axel caught her and brought her to her room. Gently he laid her on her bed and came for his friends and a doctor.

The four men and Alnor waited in front of Lioness room while the doctor checked her up. As he came out of her room Axel asked him, "What´s with her? Is she ill? Is it badly? Can I see her?" The doctor smiled. "Don´t worry. She´ll be okay tomorrow. Now she just needs to sleep. The stress was just a little too much to her and she was very weak after your long journey. Just gave her an night and tomorrow everything is okay again", he said and left. Axel went into her room, the others followed him.

Lioness laid on her bed under thick blankets. Her friends stood around her bed. "How do you feel?", asked King. "Better", she replied quietly.

After some time they all left. Lioness needed to sleep. Before Axel closed the door, he looked a last time at her. "Good night", he whispered. He heard her regular breath, she was asleep. Then Axel closed the door, quietly.

**Review, please!!!!**


	15. Happy new year

Happy New Year

The next morning Axel stood up very early. He wanted to go to Lioness. As he opened the door he found her standing in front of him. "So you feel better?", he asked and looked at her. Lioness smiled. "I think so", she said. Then Axel hugged her. Lioness was surprised and after some seconds he let her go. "For what was that?", she asked confused. Axel shrugged his shoulders. He really didn´t know why he had hugged her. It just came over him. "It´s just good to see you feel better."

The next months were very busy in Reustra. The smiths made swords and other weapons for the battle. The other handcraft men were really busy, too. Some of them made arrows or even bows, the others made shields or armors. The whole day the people hurried from one place to another one.

Meanwhile it was end of december. They hadn´t celebrate christmas because of all those different religions the rebels had. But the new year´s eve came nearer and nearer and this would be a feast they were going to celebrate. Outside snow was falling and covered the whole landscape.

Axel went towards a special arena that the rebels used to train. There were marks for bowmen and big, sack-like dolls where you could train to fight with your sword. Axel went into the arena and saw two people. The first one was a guy, nearly sixteen. He had a bow and aimed at a mark. The other one was Hawk, he held his bow in his left hand and pulled the string slowly towards his chin. The arrow with the grey hawk-feathers flew straight into the yellow point on the mark after Hawk had let the string go.

"Why are you afflicting the mark with your arrows? I mean, you won´t shoot better as you can", said Axel joking as he noticed Hawk hit the mark nearly fifteen times at the same point: The exact middle.

"But I don´t know what I should do instead of it", he smiled and took the next arrow.

Axel went towards a doll and looked at it. It had a sword in its right "hand" (it was more a sack than a doll) and a shield in its left one. Axel looked at it for some time. Then he attacked it with a fast movement and kicked the sword hand. The doll turned around and the shield came towards him. He punched the shield and then the sword again. He did it this way for a long time, sometimes he jumped into the air and attacked the head of the doll.

A few metres away stood a boy, just a little younger than Axel. He watched him impressed and then he tried to copy Axel´s movements. But he wasn´t as fast as Axel and landed on the ground because he forgot to block the shield of the doll. Axel smiled a little as he noticed that and continued his training.

Alnor came into the arena and was in search of Axel. "Lioness wants to meet you. In ten minutes at the south exit", told the boy. Axel stopped and thanked Alnor. He wanted to leave now, but Alnor pulled at his shirt. "What´s up?", asked Axel confused and looked down at the small boy. In the last time he had been together with him very often. He liked Alnor a lot.

"Can I come with you?", he asked quietly. Axel knelt down next to him. Alnor was very small in contrast with Axel. "If you want..." The small boy hugged Axel thankfully and together they walked to the south exit.

"There you are!", said Lioness as she noticed Axel and Alnor coming towards her. She wore her green dress again and her hair were in a ponytail. "I see you took someone with you?" Lioness stroke through the boy´s hair.

"You wanted to see me?", asked Axel.

"I...just wanted to ask you if you want to go for a walk with me", began Lioness. "And let me guess, you want to come with us?" She looked at Alnor. The boy nodded and smiled. Lioness smiled, too. "Then let´s go", she said.

Outside everything was white. The trees had no leaves and the cold branches looked like old and raspy fingers that wanted to touch the sky.

"Nearly three months..." "...to the battle", finished Lioness Axel´s sentence. He nodded.

"Will you fight, too?", asked Alnor quietly. Axel just nodded again.

"Will you die?" Axel looked at Lioness. He gave her a _don´t-tell-the-boy-we-will-maybe-die-that-would-be-too-hard-for-him-_look. Lioness understood. "No, we won´t die", she replied and hoped the boy would believe her. He kept quiet. They walked for a long time and at about midday they decided to go back.

"It´s very cold", noticed Lioness. Axel just nodded. "What´s wrong with you? The whole time you´re just nodding", said Lioness with played anger. "That is unfair, I´m trying to talk with you and you do nothing."

"Really? I´ll show you what unfair is!" Axel grabbed Lioness and tickled her. She must laugh and didn´t notice the ground. On an icy area she slipped and landed on the ground, Axel with her. "Help!", screamed Lioness laughing. Alnor took some snow and formed a ball. Then he threw it at Axel. He threw nearly six or seven balls on Axel till the snow was everywhere in his face and on his body.

"Stop this!" Axel let Lioness go and made another snow-ball. He threw it on Alnor. The boy could hide behind a tree. Axel stood up and wiped the snow away. "Really bad idea...it´s very cold and we have to walk nearly ten minutes", said Axel shaking. Lioness stood up, too. She was not that wet and cold like Axel.

"Come on, let´s go home", she said and took Alnor´s hand.

As they were in Reustra again Axel changed his clothes. Lioness did, too. Alnor had been the only one who came home dry. Then the three of them went into a kitchen and ate something. Lioness noticed Axel sniffed a little. "You should stay in the warmth", she said worried. She didn´t want to get him ill. "I´m okay", he said. Lioness said nothing.

On new year´s eve everyone came into the feasthall. Many tables stood there and the people sat around them, drank, played games or danced on the dancefloor. They all waited for the new year and tried to kill time. Lioness sat with King, Shark and Hawk on a table. It was very loud in the hall and she looked around. Where was Axel? Did he forget the feast? No, he wouldn´t forget something like that. The three guys played cards. Lioness still looked around.

"I´ll go and come for Axel", she said and stood up. In front of Axel´s room she met Alnor. The boy looked at her in desperation. "He don´t want to open the door", he said. Lioness knocked carefully at the door. Then a little harder. "Axel? Are you there? It´s me, Lioness", she said but none answered.

"The whole time there is just silence", said Alnor. Lioness tried to open the door, but it was locked. She looked at the door hinges. Then she told Alnor to push the door upwards. The boy nodded and did what she wanted. Lioness took a stone and hammered against something. She counted to three and together she and Alnor lifted the door out of its hinges. Carefully they laid the heavy, wooden door on the ground.

It was dark in the room. Lioness stepped in and waited some seconds till her eyes got used to the darkness. She took a few steps forward and looked around. Then she heard a cough. It came out of the corner of the room. Alnor followed her with a torch. Lioness took it and looked around again. She noticed a dark shadow in a corner and went to it. The light of the torch let her recognize a face: It was Axel.

He knelt on the ground and held his belly. Sweat was on his face that glowed red. Lioness gave Alnor the torch and hurried over to Axel. She looked into his face. He opened his eyes for a moment.

"What happened?", she asked gently.

"I...I locked the door and...wanted to meditate without...being disturbed...then I suddenly coughed and nearly passed out...I didn´t know where I was..." His voice shook and sounded weak. "But...I think I´m okay now", he added.

Lioness laid her hand on his forehead. It was hot. "No, I don´t think you´re okay", she said and helped him up. She helped him over to his bed and he laid on it.

"Alnor, please go and come for our friends...and a doctor", whispered Lioness to the young boy. He nodded quickly and left. With the fire of the torch Lioness lit some candles in Axel´s room. Then she took his blanket and laid it over him. "I´m really okay", he said a second time, but his sentence ended in a cough. Lioness rose her eyebrow. "Sure?"

Alnor came back with a doctor and the rest of their team. Lioness took a few steps backwards and let the doctor check Axel.

"What happened?", asked Shark interested and worried. Lioness went over to her friends who stood in the door.

"I don´t know...his door was locked and I tried to get in. Then I found him laying on the ground", she replied.

The doctor put the blanket away and put off Axel´s shirt. He checked his breath. King stepped next to the doctor. "What´s with him?", he asked. The doctor shook his head.

"I think it is a pnemonia. And unfortunately it sounds like it is a double pneumonia. Moreover he has a high temperature and a little shivering", he explained.

"What can we do?", asked Hawk.

"Not much. You can hold him warm and lie a wet and cold cloth on his forehead. If his temperature is still that high in the next two days he won´t have a big chance. So I´m sorry I can´t do more for you", he said and went out of the room after he had shown the four friends what they should do.

Lioness sat down on Axel´s bed. They all decided to keep watch on Axel during the whole night. King decided to have the first look-out. Lioness didn´t want to leave the room, just like the others. They all fetched some blankets and slept on the ground. King sat on the chair in the corner of the room and stared into the darkness. Axel was asleep, since some hours he didn´t move and just breathed calmly.

In the early morning hours (meanwhile was it Shark´s turn to keep watch) Lioness woke up. She looked a few seconds at Shark, then at the others who were asleep and at last at Axel. She stood up and told Shark to sleep for a while. He nodded tired and quietly and laid on the ground. Moments later he was asleep. Lioness got a new cloth for Axel´s forehead and checked his temperature. It was still very high.

Nervous and worried she didn´t notice she was playing with her necklace. The necklace was silver and the pendant was a small dragon. It had been a present from her mother to her eighteenth birthday. Suddenly she noticed something on Axel´s chest and took the blanket away. On his chest, nearly on his right shoulder, was a small mark. It was a small fleck, nothing important, normally. Normally.

Lioness´ eyes widened and she got a closer look to it. The color of this fleck was darkblue. Not brown or like the color of normal skins. No, it was really darkblue. She didn´t know what to do. There were so many feelings in her at the same moment. Happyness, sadness, nervousness, confusion, love...

Before she could think about it she heard the far sound of cheering people. It came from the feast hall. So the sun was rising and they were all sure the new year had come.

"Happy new year", she whispered into Axel´s ear and stroke his hot cheek.

**Please don´t forget to review!!!**

**The story in german has normally nineteen chapters ( I know the last one is not there yet, but I´m working on it!!!). So this story will have nineteen chapters, too. But I don´t know if I shall write a continuation...It´s just a thought and at the moment I wouldn´t notice it if I were you...**

**So, just four more chapters to the end...four chapters full of many happenings! Remember, the big battle** **hasn´t started yet!**

**Please review and thanks for reading!**

**(At last I want to say your reviews were all very nice, so thank you all!!!)**


	16. The strategy

The strategy

The next morning Axel didn´t woke up. He was asleep for a very long time. But he needed the sleep to recover, and that was good. King, Shark and Hawk left the room to eat something, Alnor didn´t want to leave his new best friend, so he stayed with Lioness in Axel´s room. In the last months Axel had been like a father for the young boy. They were really often together and did something.

Lioness woke up after the boys had left. Alnor stood next to her and watched Axel worried. He noticed she was awake and smiled. Then he sat on the ground while Lioness swapped the cloth on Axel´s forehead.

"You remember me of him", she said and looked at the young boy. Alnor blushed a little and smiled. Lioness smiled, too. "And now you´re really looking like him!"

"Why that?", asked Alnor confused and watched Lioness taking care of Axel.

"Well, on our journey he blushed very often, just like you now", she explained and sat on Axel´s bed again.

The boy grinned. "He likes you", he said and grinned. This time Lioness blushed a little, but Alnor didn´t notice it. He looked worried at Axel and hoped he wouldn´t die. "Don´t worry", said Lioness as she noticed his look. "He´ll stay through this. He is stronger than you think." But this didn´t calm Alnor down. He didn´t left the room the whole day.

But Lioness did, in the early afternoon she got hungry and went to the kitchen to eat something. An hour later she came back and was surprised: Axel sat in his bed and Alnor stood in front of him. Very fast he spoke to Axel and told him everything that happened. His face was one big, happy smile while he told Axel. Axel himself just listened and smiled sometimes.

"I see you feel better", said Lioness as she came in.

"I don´t know what better means", replied Axel and coughed hardly.

"Better means you won´t die", said Lioness and felt his temperature. It was a little lower than the day before.

"Aha", he just said.

"The doctor said you have to stay in bed for one or two weeks-"

"Two weeks?!" Axel cut her sentence. "I´ll go crazy if I have to do nothing!"

"You ARE crazy if you won´t stay in your bed!" Lioness voice sounded angry.

"But I really feel better, believe me! I could fight with a hundred soldiers!", he said and looked at Lioness.

"Really?! If you want...leave your room and get more ill till you die. That doesn´t matter to the people who care about you!", she shouted angry and with sarcasm in the last part of her sentence. Her head was red and angry she went out of the room.

"What-?" Axel was confused. _Girls are so crazy! So...narrow-minded and bossy!_, thought Axel and moaned. The his look fell on Alnor who watched him. "What´s up?", asked Axel huffy.

The boy just smiled. "I think she likes you a lot", he said and avoided Axel´s question. Axel moaned a second time, but a little more quietly. Alnor thought for a moment. "Yepp, I guess she likes you very much."

Lioness disappeared for the whole afternoon. In the evening she stood at the south exit and watched the sunset. The snow shimmered in the last light of the sun and turned red and yellow. The sky was painted with interesting colors. As she heard footsteps behind her, Lioness turned around. Axel stood, wrapped into thick blankets, three feet behind her. The heat came up into her face. _Why doesn´t he understand he has to stay in his bed? Stupid guy..._, thought Lioness and looked into his face for some seconds. Then she turned around again and watched the clouds at the sky.

"You mustn´t be here", she said quietly.

"I just wanted to say sorry...for my behavior today...", he began slowly and searched the right words.

"Is that all you want to say? Then go away into your bed", she said coldly. He looked at her confused.

"What must I do for it that you´ll forgive me?", he asked confused and stepped closer to her.

Lioness said nothing. She remembered Alnor´s words. _You want to do something? Tell me your true feelings for me, I really want to know if Alnor was right..._ But Lioness didn´t say this loud. This thought just crossed her mind and disappeared as fast as it had come.

The silence lasted really long. "I´m sorry", said Axel again and took another step towards her. Snow fell soundless to the ground and a cold breeze blew threw his hair. Slowly Lioness turned around and looked into his eyes. Then she hugged him and laid her head on his chest.

"I´m sorry, too. But please understand I´m worried of you. So stay in your bed till you have recovered", she said and took a step backwards. Axel opened his mouth to say something, but Lioness cut his sentence, "Don´t say anything. Do what the doctor told you."

Without a word he turned around and started to go. "Thank you", he whispered as he went away.

In the evening Axel was in his bed, asleep. His breath was regular and calm and he breathed quietly. Lioness opened the door without a noise and stepped in. In her hands she held her silver necklace with the dragon. She sneaked over to his bed and took the blanket away. On his chest she saw the strange colored fleck. She knew what it meant. And she was sure of it that he had to be this special person.

Before she had left Brasil her mother had given her the necklace. It was a very old amulet. Her mother had told her the story of the Dragon-warrior, a man who would do something very important. Nearly 1700 years ago there was a big chaos in the world. A bad and powerful man in the old china wanted to use the magical power of a special star-constellation to rule the world. But there was an old master of Jo-Lan who used the power of the dragon to defeat this man. Later he put the power of the dragon into a small silver pendant in form of a dragon.

Lioness held this pendant in her hands now. It was her duty to find the new dragon-warrior. Her mother had tried it before, but she couldn´t end her mission. So it was Lioness´ turn now. She was sure that the blue fleck meant something special. She was sure Axel was the new warrior.

But what if he wasn´t the right one? Lioness hesitated and looked at him. Carefully she touched the fleck with the pendant. For some seconds the silver of the pendant turned hot and gleamed a little. She smiled. He was the right one, that was sure. Slowly she opened his hand and laid the necklace into it. Then she put his blanket over him again and left quietly.

Axel opened his eyes. He felt something in his hand and looked at it. It was Lioness´ necklace. Why was it here in his hand? Axel shrugged his shoulders and put the necklace on the table. Some moments later he fell asleep again.

One week later Axel was healthy again. He continued with his training and very often he meditated to make his spirit power stronger. But the others trained, too. Hawk hit the mark with his arrows always in the exact middle. _Show-off_, thought Axel. King made weight training and Shark fought with Alnor. Yes, he fought with a nine-year-old boy. But the boy was stronger than he looked like. With wooden swords the two trained and it was an advantage for Alnor that he was that small.

He moved very fast, brandished the wooden sword and hit Shark´s one. Quickly he ran behind Shark and tried to hit him. He continued this attack the whole time and Shark wasn´t quickly enough to hit the young boy. A really funny picture. But one time Shark knew what Alnor wanted to do and blocked the attack, then he grabbed the boy, lifted him up into the air so he couldn´t move. "I won this time, little dude", he said smiling and sat the boy on the ground.

Lioness practised her capoeira. She moved quickly and nearly like a cat. She kicked hard and landed on the ground soundless.

It was in the end of february. Just one week, then they would have to fight. Everyone was nervous, trained in fight and tried to stay calm. One day Alnor came to the five friends. He had run to them and now he caught his breath.

"Dresan wants to see you...it´s because of the battle", said the boy breathless.

They all hurried to the leader´s hut and stepped in. A big table stood ín the middle of the room. Large maps laid on it. Dresan stood behind the table, his hands on it, and looked concentrated on the maps. As he heard the five teens he looked up and smiled, but it was a played smile. You could see he was worried and sad.

"Nice to see you all", he said.

"You wanted to tell us something?",asked Axel after a short pause.

"Yeah, it´s because of the battle. A long time I spoke to my advisers and we made a plan for the battle. I hope it doesn´t matter we gave you positions on the battlefield", he said and looked at each one of them. They shook their heads.

"Well, you see this map here?" He pointed at the largest one. "There is the castle, on the plains of Algiswar. The perfect place for a battle. We could sneak through the high grass and none will see us." He paused and pointed at the big, green area on the map. The plains.

"Okay, now to your positions. Hawk, you will fight with the other bowmen, of course." This time Dresan pointed at another map. There were red, green, blue, white and black points on it. The blue points were the bowmen, they stood in the first row. Hawk nodded.

"King, Shark, your place is here, with the other swordsmen. King will fight with the infantry, Shark with the first echelon." He pointed at the red and green points on the map. "The white points are the riders. They will attack the castle after the bowmen", he looked at Hawk,"attacked the guards on the walls. Maybe the king can see us very early, so expect an open battle."

Then he explained the right order and the strategy for the riders, bowmen, infantry and the first, second, third and fourth echelon. After some time Axel looked at the leader. "And what will I do?", he asked.

"Ah, you´ll get a very special mission", began Dresan. "I saw you fighting and I´m sure you´re the right one for this!" He paused. "You will get into the castle without being seen. When you are in you have to open the gate and let us in. At last you must lit some strow or a building and the guards will have a distraction", he explained and looked at Axel.

"Okay, I understood."

"Then, after the..."

"And what about me?" Lioness asked as Dresan wanted to continue. He looked at her surprised. She asked again, "Where will I fight?"

"You want to fight?" Dresan looked surprised and confused. "But you´re a..."

"...woman, I know. But I can fight like everyone else."

"I can´t let you fight, the rebels would think I´m a bad leader! You know what they say, a woman on the battlefield brings unluck", he explained.

"Err, Sir? I think it would be a mistake if you won´t let her fight", mentioned Axel. Lioness looked at him. _Thank you_, she thought. Dresan thought a moment and looked concentrated on the map.

"I needn´t fight, but please let me come with you! I´ll stay in the camp", said Lioness and hoped he would think of it. She was a little furious. He didn´t want to have her on the battlefield, just because she was a woman. That made her angry. But she tried to stay calm.

"Well, if you´ll stay in the camp...than you can come with us. I think the generals won´t like this..."

She was really angry now. Wow, she was allowed to stay in the camp. Great. The others would maybe die and she did nothing. Quickly she said good bye to them and left. The door snapped behind her. She didn´t know where she ran, the rage made her blind. Some moments later she was at the stablings. She searched the box of her horse and stroke the soft skin of it. The animal snuffled quietly.

"Don´t be angry", said a voice behind her, "he does not know how important you are." Lioness turned around and saw Axel. He leaned against the wall of the stabling.

"Who does he think is he?! He won´t let me fight just because I´m a girl?! That´s unfair, this leader is really...!" Her voice was shaking and her head was very red. She growled something and took a deep breath in.

Axel waited some moments till she had calm down. "Are you afraid of your mission?", she asked after a long moment of silence.

"I don´t know how to feel...But I think I´m really afraid of it. And I´m a little glad that you mustn´t fight", he added quietly. Lioness was confused.

"So you´re on his side now?!" She nearly shouted. Her horse winced. Lioness turned to her horse and stroke its soft skin again.

"No, I´m not on his side. I...", he paused and stared into the air, "...I´m just afraid that something could happen to you. I´m afraid to lose you forever."

Quickly Lioness turned around. Axel was gone. The place where he had been was empty. _He is really afraid to lose me? Maybe he still likes me? _She understood his fear. In nearly one week they would fight and then they would get free or die trying.

**The big battle is coming nearer and nearer...and there are three chapters left to the end...**

**Thanks for reading, please review!!!**


	17. Good bye

Good bye

In the next week Axel avoided Lioness and she avoided him. The mood in the rebel hiding place was very bad. Everyone was busy, nervous, scared. There were so many feelings, mostly bad feelings. The faces of the rebels were very often white, tired and strained.

Axel sat alone in his room. He looked at a small bale that laid on his bed. There were the things he needed for the next few days. Victuals, a skean and other clothes. It wasn´t much, but enough for the next days. In this days they would go to the plains of Algiswar, for the big battle. Axel was very nervous. He couldn´t sleep. It was very late, the sun has setted some hours ago. He felt tired and couldn´t hold his eyes open. But there were too many different feelings in him, they made him stay awake.

Lioness was in her room. Her bale laid on the ground, she had packed it hours ago. Quietly she sat on her bed and stared at it. She was still angry because she wasn´t allowed to fight. This leader had no idea what she could do. She could fight like Axel. The last time she trained with him none won their fight. So they were equally good. She didn´t understand Dresan. Angry she fell on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She closed her eyes for some moments.

Hawk was not in his room. He was in the training arena and aimed at a mark. The arrow hit the exact middle of the mark for the twentieth time. You could see he was nervous, too. As he took the next arrow his hand shook a little, but nevertheless he hit the mark perfectly. Absent-minded he took the next arrow and aimed at the mark.

King packed his things, too. As he finished Alnor came in and they tried to talk a little. But it was ovious that they were both nervous and scared. Alnor said he was afraid to lose the five teens, they were his best friends. King smiled sad and hugged the small boy.

Shark laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling. His eyes focused a small spider that was at the ceiling and crawled through its net. The hairy and black legs moved slowly and carefully. Shark closed his eyes. He was tired, but couldn´t sleep. He didn´t know he wasn´t the only one with this feeling. He yawned tired and watched the small spider.

Before the sun rose Alnor came to the five friends and said good bye. Axel stepped out of his room and noticed the boy. "Where are the others?", he asked.

"They´re in the stablings. They´re saddling their horses", replied Axel and looked at him.

"I hope you´ll come back...you promised it", said the young boy quietly. Axel knelt down beside him and stroke through the darkbrown hair of Alnor.

"Don´t worry, I´ve never broken a promise." He tried to smile. It didn´t work. The boy felt he was nervous and a little afraid. Axel stood up. "Good bye", he said and left Alnor alone.

At the horses he saddled his horse and met his friends. He saw Lioness, but didn´t say any word to her. Without saying anything he sat on his horse and rode slowly towards the exit in the north.

As he reached the exit he saw a frightening picture: There were many horses, men with thick armors and long swords. The women cried and said good bye to their husbands, brothers, fathers and uncles. The army was huge. It was very loud in this hall, the horses were nervous and scrabbled with their hooves. The men talked sadly to their friends, the women screamed and cried. All in all this picture was sad.

Dresan noticed Axel and his friends. Wordless he waved his hand and showed them to come over to him. He sat on his horse at the top of the army. He wore a thick, red leather armor and a sword and a skean were tied to his belt. He looked sad, nervous and afraid, but he hid his feelings very well. He tried to smile as the teens were next to him.

"I think we´re complete now", he said to Axel.

"How many are we?", he asked back.

"I think nearly 10000. With the army of the north rebels we could be nearly 13000 or even 14000. I don´t know it exactly", he replied and looked at the men behind them.

A horn resounded and the army of tenthousands of rebels started moving. First came the riders with Axel, King, Lioness, Hawk and Shark. Dresan led the group, around him were four riders with lances. Behind them walked the rebels who had no horses. Very slowly they moved out of the hiding place and left their home behind.

The whole way they said nothing. Axel felt the cold silver of the necklace in his neck. The pendant was on his chest. He had worn it for the last week. He didn´t know why Lioness gave him the necklace, but the silver felt strange in his hands. Absent-minded he played with the pendant while he rode behind the leader and next to his friends. As his fingers touched the pendant he felt a strange warmth in the metal. Somehow he felt a little safer. Maybe it was the fact that the pendant was a dragon: The symbol of Jo-Lan.

One evening Axel noticed Lioness at a fire in the near of some other rebels. It was a huge picture. Thousands of rebels made in the evenings a lot of fires to reheat. Lioness sat at one of them with two other guys. He sat down next to her and stared into the flames.

"It was very cold today", he started. He had a lump in his throat and didn´t know how to start talking with her.

Lioness nodded and looked at the fire, too. Finally Axel took his brave and asked her,

"Why did you give me this necklace?" His voice was a whisper, he didn´t want the two guys to hear him.

"It belongs to you. At the moment I can´t tell you more, but you must know: It has special powers only you can use. So find it out", she replied quietly and turned her head to him. For a long time they stared at each other. Her eyes gleamed in the light of the dancing flames. After a very long time Axel felt the heat in his face and the prickle in his belly again. For this moment he forgot his worry and excitement. For this moment, he felt absolutely safe.

She opened her mouth for a second and it seemed as she wanted to say something, but then she closed her mouth again and stood up. Without saying a word she disappeared in the darkness of this starry and cold night and left Axel at the fire with the interested looks of the two guys.

In the evening of the fourth day they arrived at the plains. The rebels of the north waited for them. Their tents were white and the other rebels placed their tents next to them. For Axel´s surprise he found Thomas, the leader of the rebels where he had lived, in the camp. He was talking to Dresan. After a long greeting Axel wanted to left.

"I´m sure you´ll make this", said Thomas finally as Axel left.

"Thanks", he replied and walked out of the tent.

He walked over to his own tent. It wasn´t really his own tent, he shared it with four other guys. But everyone was outside and got ready for the fight. In half an hour the sun would set and he decided to change his clothes. His brown clothes were a little too easy to see, so he took some black clothes out of his bale. He was alone in the tent. He put on a black shirt with long arms. Then pitch-black pants. Around his forearms he wrapped black tapes, because the arms were a little too long. He did the same with his lower legs. At last he took his sword and placed the scabbard on his back.

As he turned around he noticed a black figure in his tent. It stood right behind him. At second sight he noticed it was Lioness. She wore black pants and a black shirt. Her hair were in a ponytail. She smiled at him.

"I guess you didn´t want to go without me", she said, joking.

"How could I?", he asked back with sarcasm. He accepted the fact she wanted to come with him. A feeling in his belly told him she should stay in the camp, but he ignored it. "You´re sure you want to come with me? Dresan didn´t allow you that", he said.

"Dresan has no idea. Believe me, I WANT to fight", she replied and stepped closer to him.

"You´re worried about me, aren´t you?", she asked gently. Axel just nodded. Lioness turned around and wanted to leave the tent, but he called her back. "Lioness...I...", he began, but he didn´t find the right words.

"Yeah?" She turned around and looked into his eyes. The heat came up into his head and the prickle in his belly went stronger with each second. The blood rushed very loud through his head. No, this time he would tell her his feelings. Since they had left the hiding place he wanted to tell he loved her. Now his chance was there.

He wanted to say something, but his voice was gone. _You stupid idiot! Do something or she or you will die in the battle and your chance is gone_, said a voice in his head.

Suddenly he leaned towards her and kissed her. Lioness´ eyes widened a little, but then she deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. The blood rushed through Axel´s head and he felt the warmth of her body. He put every feeling he felt for her in this one, long kiss. The prickle in his belly was very strong now and it felt fantastic good. For the time the kiss lasted he forgot his worries and just enjoyed it.

A horn resounded through the camp of the rebels. The time of the battle had come. Axel let Lioness go and looked into her eyes. "I´ll always love you", he whispered to her. "I love you too", she replied.

Then they stepped out of the tent. "Stay here and wait till I´m back. I´ll talk to Dresan", said Axel and left her. Minutes later he came back. "Okay, we can start. The army moves to the castle now, when we´re there our part is coming", he said to her and they followed the army of rebels.

**Now, the battle is very close...and there are just two chapters left to the end! Maybe a happy end, but maybe not...**

**Review, please!**


	18. The battle

The battle

After an hour of marching over the plains of Algiswar the rebels could see the castle. The stones of its walls looked black in the dark sky. The sky was cloudy and the torches on the walls looked like small and red eyes who watched the rebels coming nearer and nearer. But in the near of the castle waited a surprise for them. The army of the king stood there. The torches spent light and you could see their red uniforms. It was a huge mass of soldiers. It looked like a sea of soldiers.

For some moments the two armies stood there and looked at each other. Then Dresan shouted something into the night and the bowmen who stood in the first row strained the strings of their bows. Guys lit the arrowheads. Now a second order resounded through the night. The bowmen let the burning arrows fly through the dark sky. The orange, yellow and red arrows flew into the army of the king and hit some men. The rest of the arrows bored into the shields of them.

A third order. This time the bowmen sent arrows towards the soldiers, but they weren´t lit. Some soldiers screamed, "Night arrows!" The soldiers tried to hide behind their shields. Some of them were killed. That was enough. The soldiers moved towards the rebels. The bowmen shot the arrows and tried to kill them till they were too close. Dresan shouted somthing and the riders moved towards the army. Seconds later blood fell into the high grass and the swords of rebels and soldiers were full of the red liquid.

Meanwhile two dark shadows sneaked through the high, brown grass and came closer to the walls. The guards on them shot arrows at the rebels who were close enough, but they didn´t notice the two shadows. The first shadow stopped and looked at the walls. "There must be an open gully. We can come into the castle through it", whispered the first shadow to the second one who just nodded.

Then they crept through the grass and to the walls. As they reached them they stood up and pressed their backs against the cold, black stone. They could hear the screams of the soldiers and rebels, screaming horses and dieing people. It sounded awful.

"I found it!", hissed the second shadow and pointed at a hole in the wall. It wasn´t very big and reached their knees. Iron bars were in front of it, so the shadows couldn´t come in. The first one took out a skean and poked into the old stone. It was very old, so it fell in small pieces to the ground. After some time three bars were free and the shadow laid them on the ground.

A small tunnel was free. Without a noise the two black figures crept into the tunnel that ended in the inner ward. They stopped and looked around. Guards stood on the walls and shot at the rebels, they wouldn´t notice the two shadows. There were some buildings in the huge inner ward. A smith had his house next to the stablings. The stablings looked very big. Next to them was a high tower of strow. A gate separated the inner ward from the inside of the castle.

"Now we have to find out how we can open the gate", whispered Axel to Lioness who laid next to him on the ground. The tunnel wasn´t very high, so they had crept through it. They laid in the shelter of the shadows in the tunnel and looked around.

"There is a big wheel with a chain for the gate", replied Lioness and pointed at the big chain next to the gate.

"Good, I´ll lit the strow at the stablings. The soldiers will take care of it. Meanwhile you can open the gate and block the chain, so none can close it. Understood?" Axel looked at her. She nodded.

"Then let´s go." With this words he stood up and sneaked over to the stablings. The torches spent some light, but Axel used the shadows and arrived at the stablings without being seen. Slowly he took a torch and lit the strow. Then he opened the boxes of the horses and let them free. In panic they ran out of the stablings. The fire scared them.

Lioness reached the chain and pulled a hand gear. A rustling sound appeared and the chain was wrapped around the big wheel. Slowly the gate opened. Suddenly she noticed the horses coming towards her in panic. Quickly she jumped out of the way, made two backflips and landed on her feet again. Then she ran towards the gully and hid in the tunnel. She had to wait for Axel.

The hooves of the horses rose dust and she couldn´t see him. The stablings burned very well and the smoke was painted red and yellow because of the flames. One moment later Axel ran towards her and slided into the tunnel. He stopped next to Lioness.

"Mission complete", he smiled at her.

"Let´s-" He didn´t finish his sentence. A voice shouted over the inner ward. Guys carried water to the burning buildings. Meanwhile the fire went over to the smith´s house. The horses were gone and the dust sank to the ground.

Axel´s look went serious. Lioness followed his look and was scared.

Paine stood in the middle of the inner ward and ordered something to the poor guys who ran as fast as they could. Axel wanted to stand up, but Lioness held him back. "Wait, he´s too strong for you", she whispered carefully. She felt that every muscle in Axel´s body was strained.

"I_ must _go", he said shortly and pulled his arm back.

"You needn´t nothing! Let´s go back to the others..." Lioness held him back with all her power.

"Stay here, I...don´t want to lose you", she said gently. "Please."

He looked at her. In his eyes she saw he was furious. "I must do this, let me go", he said and took her hand that held his arm back. Slowly he weakened her grip. She stared into his eyes. He was really bullheaded. But she understood him. Paine had killed his father, so he wanted vengeance.

She let him go. He turned around to her as he wanted to go. "I love you more than my own life, I want you to know that", he said before he ran to Paine.

Axel wanted to kick him, but Paine blocked this attack as he turned around. "You again", he hissed. "It´s time for some pain, I think!" Paine tried to grab Axel´s head, but he rolled into Paine´s back and started attacking him. Three fast kicks and a punch were blocked. Then Axel jumped towards Paine and kicked him again. Blocked. Again. He avoided some kicks and punches of Paine and ducked quickly as he wanted to grab him.

Some guards stepped closer to them and rose their bows. They aimed at Axel. Paine glanced over to them. "No, don´t shoot at him. I´ll take care of this guy", he hissed to the guards who seemed to be confused and did what Paine wanted. They went back to the walls and shot at the rebels who were close enough. "Now let´s see what your father taught you."

Axel´s eyes gleamed red now. He felt hot tears in his eyes. The big rage in him broke out and he started another attack. This kick was more powerful than the ones before. Paine fell some steps backwards. He looked at Axel in surprise. "Your father taught you more than I thought", he said and grinned. He stepped towards Axel who started another attack now. But he was too unconcentrated, so Paine grabbed him at his shoulder and a green light flashed. Axel felt a hard pain in his shoulder and screamed.

"This...won´t work...you must pay for what you did to my father!", he screamed in pain and grabbed Paine´s arm. With a fast move he kicked Paine who fell on the ground. Axel breathed hardly and fell on his knees. Sweat was on his forehead.

Lioness had enough. She came out of the tunnel and wanted to help Axel. Before she reached him a guy stepped into her way. Lioness stopped quickly and was scared. The guy grinned at her.

"You won´t help your friend here, will you? Well, that won´t be nice", the guy said.

"My _boyfriend_", corrected Lioness and grinned. "Go away, Eric, this is not your league."

Eric looked at her. "Ts, ts, ts. Not my league?" He took a step towards her. Lioness glanced at Axel who stood up very slowly. Paine walked towards him.

"You don´t know anything! This is not _your_ league, I guess. And do you know why?" He grinned. Lioness looked at him confused. "Because there is magic in this game. I don´t just speak of some useless spells- No, I´m talking of real magic. Magic that could kill you", he said.

"You don´t look like a wizard or something else", stated Lioness. A second time she glanced over to Axel. He fought hardly with Paine. Eric took a step towards Lioness and caught her attention.

"Oh, I´m no wizard or magician", replied Eric and grinned. "You won´t believe what I really am."

Lioness had a very bad feeling. "So, what are you?"

Axel made some backflips, avoided Paine´s attack and landed on the ground next to Lioness. "Everything alright here?", he asked and tried to smile. Sweat was on his forehead and he breathed hardly.

Paine stepped towards them and stopped next to Eric. Both grinned.

"Switch?", asked Lioness. Axel nodded. Seconds later he attacked Eric and Lioness kicked Paine. She moved very fast and kicked Paine in a fast order. But her attacks were all blocked. She continued with her combos and kicks and avoided Paine´s hands. She didn´t want to risk to get some pain. Paine blocked one of her attacks and punched her. She was too weak to block this attack and fell on the ground. But with a role she stood on her feet again. She smiled and run towards Paine to kick him another time.

Eric didn´t seem to be a good fighter. He avoided Axel´s attacks very slowly and sometimes he was hit. After a kick of Axel he fell on the ground and didn´t move. Then Axel turned around to see Lioness fighting with Paine. Quickly he ran to her, slipped on the ground and hit Paine´s legs. The man was surprised and hit the ground hardly. Axel rolled onto his feet again and went next to Lioness into fighting position.

Suddenly there was a loud noise. It came from the gate. Quickly everyone looked at it in surprise. The guards on the walls fell lifeless on the ground, in their chests were arrows. Arrows with grey feathers of a hawk. "They are not far from here!", whispered Axel to Lioness as he noticed the arrows. He was right, the sound of the battle was louder than before. So the rebels were maybe a hundred metres away from the castle.

Really a hundred? Not really. Soldiers with red armors and shields, swords and broken lances ran into the inner ward of the castle. "We´re too weak!", screamed one men. Some rebels followed this soldiers and fought with them in the inner ward. In the crowd of fighting rebels and soldiers Axel noticed three familiar faces. "There are King, Shark and Hawk!" Lioness followed his look, and Paine did, too.

As Axel was unconcentrated Paine attacked him, grabbed his body and threw him against the nearest wall. With a scream of surprise and pain Axel hit the cold stone and fell on his knees. Paine stepped towards him. Lioness attacked him from behind, but Paine caught her leg and threw her against the wall, too. She landed on the ground next to Axel. The man grinned and stepped closer to them. Around the three of them fought rebels and soldiers, screams sounded and blood streamed on the ground. Axel couldn´t say who was winning, but he didn´t care at the moment. Paine was his most important problem.

"Now you´ll follow your father, Manning, I guess he´s waiting for you", grinned Paine.

"No!" That was enough for Axel. With his last power he stood up, ran towards Paine and blasted him with his Jo-Lan against the wall on the other side of the inner ward. His eyes gleamed red, not blue. Paine flew over the heads of the fighting soldiers and hit the wall hardly. Stones fell with him on the ground where he passed out.

Axel fell on his knees. It had cost him a lot of power. His breath was fast and unregular, his heart hammered against his chest and his lung burned like the fire that burned the stablings and the smith´s house.

A hand touched his shoulder and he looked up. Lioness knelt beside him. He smiled weakly. "Now we have to go and find the king."

The two found the rest of their team and left the battle that was now in the inner ward of the castle. The five teens went into the castle. There were no guards, they all fought outside. The corridors were large and dark, the cloudy night didn´t spent any light. Some torches were lit, but their light was very weak and flimmered in the cold breeze that went through the large corridor in front of the throne room.

"Wow, a really scary place", whispered Hawk and looked around.

"I can´t believe someone lives here", agreed King. Shark called them to a large door at the end of the corridor. "I guess there is the throne room, dudes", he said in a low voice. The others just nodded and went in.

The throne room was very dark. Not because of the light, many torches spent a lot of light. But the walls were nearly black and the columns were made up of black marmor. The orange light of the torches made everything creepy. The throne itself stood at the end of the room in front of some big windows with colored glass. Of course, in black and white.

The throne was empty. "Where is the king?", asked Lioness as she looked around.

"Behind you." A voice came from behind them and the man who owned the voice closed the door. It was Lee.

"What do you want in MY castle?", he asked calm and looked at the teens.

"We just wanted to know if someone was at home", replied Shark and grinned.

"Well, now you know it and you can leave...forever!" A detonation hit the ground in front of the teens. Surprised they all jumped backwards. There was a big hole in the ground now. Axel shouted to his friends, "Be careful! He uses black magic!" "No, really?", asked King sarcastically back as he avoided a second fire ball that nearly hit him.

Lee whirled around and sent a fire ball towards Hawk who had wanted to attack him from behind. In the last moment Lioness caught him and pushed him out of the way. Then she attacked Lee, but with a short spell he rose his hand. Lioness hung in the midair and couldn´t move. "What-?" Then she was sent against the heavy, wooden door. Now Shark ran towards Lee. With another spell the man rose his hand. A red tape was wrapped around Shark´s legs and he fell on the ground. Seconds later the tape disappeared.

King whispered quickly something to Axel. He nodded. Before a detonation could hit them, they jumped out of the way. As Lee sent lightnings that came out of his hand towards King he held a tray in front of his body. The tray reflected the lightnings and turned back to Lee. As the lightnings hit the wizard the whole room was filled with a laugh and a bright, white light. Everyone held their hands in front of their faces because the light was too bright.

As the light was gone, the laugh was it, too. The place where Lee had been, was empty. There was just a small gangrenous spot. "So, it´s over?", asked Axel and spoke out what everyone in the throne room thought.

**Okay, maybe a too short end for Lee. But I have another surprise for you in the next chapter. It isn´t over. Not yet. :P**

**Please review, your reviews are always very helpful and nice! ;-)**


	19. Moondragon

Moon-dragon

The five teens looked at each other. They had killed the king. No, not really. He had killed himself. Tired they went out of the throne room. In the corridor they heard the sound of the battle.

"Oh, they´re still fighting! I just forgot it!", said Hawk as he heard the sound of screams and weapons.

"Let´s help them!"

They ran out and saw the rebels were winning. Just as they came down the stairs to the corridor the last soldier was killed and the rebels cheered. Lioness hugged Axel and gave him a kiss. King looked surprised. "So you´re finally together? There is always a happy end", he smiled.

"Dudes, what shall we do with Eric and Paine?", asked Shark as he looked down at Eric who laid passed out on the ground.

Suddenly his hand grabbed Shark´s leg and pulled him towards the ground. Axel went instinctive into fighting position while Eric stood up and placed his right foot on Shark´s back, so he couldn´t stand up. "Now there´s the question what I shall do with you", he asked. His voice sounded diffrent. Not like the voice of a human. It was deeper, much deeper.

"_What _are you?", asked Lioness.

Eric grinned. "I guess you know it", he said in his demon-like voice. Suddenly he grew. His skin turned darker and darker till it was nearly black. His hands turned into paws with long, black claws. His clothes tore into pieces because he went bigger and bigger. His eyes became red like blood and a long, scaly tail appeared. Wings with black skin grew out of his back. As he finished growing a pitch-black, five metres high dragon stood in front of them.

The rebels were scared and took some steps backwards. Axel looked surprised and a little frightened at Lioness. "I can´t believe you kissed this...this...what exactly is he?"

"A moon-dragon", replied Lioness.

"So you didn´t tell us stories?", asked Hawk with a scared face. She shook her head.

The dragon grabbed Shark with his claw and threw him onto his friends. "Are you hurt?", asked King. Shark shook his head. "I´m alright dude", he replied and tried to smile.

"Okay, what can we do? I mean, there is a five metres high dragon with big claws, a long and deadly tail..."

"...and he can spit fire", added Lioness. The others looked at her surprised. And shocked.

"Why do you know that?", asked Hawk.

"We have no time for that now- jump!" A thin stream of fire burned the ground where they had stood before.

"Axel, I think his weak point is in his neck, there are no scales that could protect him", explained Lioness as she landed on the ground.

"And what shall I do?"

"Use your necklace", she grinned and jumped away because of a fire ball.

"What? How can I use it?", he asked confused.

"Concentrate and feel its power. I don´t know what you can do with it, but another Jo-Lan warrior used it very long ago."

The dragon took a step forward. The whole ground vibrated.

"Guys, do something!", King shouted as he avoided a fire ball. Axel closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate and not to notice the sound of the growling dragon and the screams of his friends.

Lioness jumped and landed on the ground without a noise. She stood next to Hawk now. She saw King some metres away from them, Shark stood on the stairs in front of the corridor. But where was Axel? She searched him in the whole inner ward of the castle, but she didn´t see him. "Where is Axel?", she asked Hawk. He didn´t answer and stared into the cloudy sky. She followed his look.

A shadow was above the castle. A big shadow with large wings and a long tail. The moon-dragon growled and rose into the sky. As he was as high as the shadow he spat a stream of fire towards it. With a quickly move the shadow avoided it and flew towards the moon-dragon. A battle with claws, teeth, thorns and tails began and both scratched or bit each other. But then Eric bit into one wing of the shadow. A furious roar resounded and the shadow fell on the ground like a big stone.

Eric followed him. As the shadow landed on the ground, everything vibrated. Eric bowed over the big, other dragon and wanted to bite into its neck, but suddenly an arrow bored itself into the scaly skin of the moon-dragon´s chest. He roared and didn´t care of the other dragon that laid on the ground. He stepped towards the bowman who had shot the arrow. It was Hawk.

With a surprised scream Hawk took some steps backwards till he reached the wall and felt the cold stone in his back. He coursed something. But before Eric gulped Hawk he suddenly roared in pain and whirled around. There stood the other dragon and had the moon-dragon´s tail in his mouth. Lioness thought she saw a smile in the other dragon´s face.

Now she could look at the new dragon better. He had silver scales and a grey skin was on his wings. A silver horn was on his forehead. He was as big as Eric, the moon-dragon, and Lioness knew the silver one was on their side. Blood streamed out of the wound on his left wing, there where Eric had bitten him.

Quickly Eric pulled his thorny tail out of the dragon´s mouth and scratched him. But he hit the air. The silver one was too fast and rose into the air again. His face was full of pain because his wing was hurt. But he tried not to notice the pain and rose higher and higher. The black one followed him and spat some fire balls. After he avoided this balls the silver dragon pressed his wings on his body and fell towards Eric.

Eric swung his thorny tail and suddenly some black thorns flew towards the silver one. One thorn hit him in his chest. With a roar the silver dragon fell on the ground and didn´t move. The moon-dragon landed next to the body of the other dragon and bent forward with his head. He looked at the dragon carefully.

With a growl the silver dragon rose his head and bit into the neck of Eric. He roared in pain, but then he fell on the ground, lifeless. Blood streamed out of the wound on his neck, his eyes were closed. Then his figure became bleary and after some seconds there laid the human Eric again.

The silver dragon breathed heavily. The thorn in his chest sat very deep. It had gone through the hard scales and now red blood streamed down the dragon´s chest. Slowly the rebels came a little closer and wanted to have a look at the dragon who saved them.

Shark, King and Hawk looked confused at Lioness. "Do you know why this dragon helped us?", asked King. Lioness looked at the dragon and took a few steps forward. The dragon´s head was now some metres in front of her.

"I think I know why..." She went towards the dragon´s head. He breathed heavily and opened his eyes weakly as he noticed someone stood next to him.

"Be careful, dude!", warned Shark.

She knelt down and looked deeply into the eyes of the dragon. His silver scales shimmered in the light of the torches. His eyes looked like the eyes of a human being. They were blue. Lioness touched his nose carefully, but as her hand touched the cold scales the dragon´s body turned bleary. Seconds later there laid a young men instead of the dragon. In his chest was a black thorn and blood came out of the wound.

"Axel?" Lioness voice was shaking as she whispered his name.

"Axel!" Her friends came running over to them.

"Please...pull this thorn...out of my...chest...it´s hurting...me", said Axel weak and looked at Lioness.

She placed her hands on the thorn, but King placed his hand on her shoulder and held her back. "Wait", he said and pointed at the thorn. Lioness looked at it. Now she noticed there were small barbs.

"I can´t do it, the thorn would destroy everything in your chest...",she told Axel quietly.

"That doesn´t...matter...I´ll die somehow or other...", he gasped.

"Don´t say this!" Lioness felt hot tears in her eyes.

"Do you know...something?", asked Axel with a weak voice. Lioness shook her head. "I..."

He didn´t finish his sentence. The warmth went out of his body and he closed his eyes. Lioness felt that her tears ran down her cheeks and fell on his chest. Then she buried her face in his black shirt that was haggled and full of blood. She didn´t hear his heartbeat and he didn´t breath. His skin felt cold. Her friends stood behind her and looked tired, sad and hurt.

"Please, come back...", she prayed and hoped he would come back, but his eyes were still closed, forever. The rebels who stood around them looked sad on the ground and payed their last respects to Axel.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The minutes Lioness knelt beside him seemed to be hours for her. Her face was wet and full of tears. There was a big silence in the inner ward and nowhere was a noise.

"I never knew black magic could be that powerful", said a voice behind Lioness. She didn´t turn around.

Black magic was very strong and she knew it. It could kill people..._kill people? I guess Lee transformed Eric into that dragon. So the thorns were made up of magic. And that means..._

Lioness rose her head and closed her eyes. "I can bring him back", she said. Her voice was shaking.

"What?", asked Hawk and looked confused at her.

"Wait some minutes, I need to concentrate", she whispered and stroke Axel´s cold cheek. Then she tried to remember the spell she had read in a book before. The spell that could bring people back to life if they were killed by magic. And Lioness was sure he had really loved her. She loved him, too. So it HAD to work. Some moments later she remembered the spell and whispered the words.

First her voice was just a whisper, but then she spoke louder and louder and while she spoke some tears fell on Axel´s wound.

The morning came. The clouds disappeared and the sky turned red in the east. Lioness finished the spell and held his hand. A tear fell on his face and she waited. Then the sadness came back and her hope disappeared like the clouds at the sky.

"He won´t come back, will he?", asked Shark into the silence.

As Lioness shook her head she suddenly stopped and looked at the thorn in Axel´s chest. It glowed red and turned bleary. Then it ended in smoke. Surprised Lioness looked at the wound. The skin was closed and looked normal. Quickly Lioness laid her head on his chest and listened. She heard a regular heartbeat and his breath. He opened his eyes.

"What...happened?", asked Axel and sat up carefully.

"Axel!" Lioness fell around his neck and hugged him.

"Is that really you?", asked Shark and looked at his friend as if he came from another world.

"I...I think so", he replied.

Slowly he stood up, Lioness helped him. "Tell me, what happened?", he asked again.

"You don´t remember anything?", asked King back. Axel shook his head.

His friends couldn´t answer, the rebels suddenly cheered and came towards them. In the crowd of people Dresan and Thomas came to the five friends. "Thank you", said Dresan and placed his hand on Axel´s shoulder. He just nodded.

The next hours the rebels carried all the killed soldiers away and buried the dead rebels next to the castle. This works lasted till the evening and before the sun setted they all placed their tents in front of the castle. Many fires for the night were lit.

After sunset Axel stood alone on one wall of the big castle. He leaned with his arms on the cold and nearly black stone. He looked at the camp of the rebels, the many fires and lights looked like the stars at the sky. The half moon spent some light and the contour of the castle gleamed in the silver light.

As he heard steps behind him, Axel didn´t turn around. Lioness stopped next to him and laid her hands on the cold stone of the wall.

"What exactly happened after Lee disappeared?", asked Axel into the silence.

"You don´t know anything?" He shook his head.

"Well, Eric turned into a moon-dragon and nearly killed us all. But somehow you turned into a silver dragon, too, and fought with him. Before you killed him with a bit in his neck he threw some thorns towards you and one hit you in the chest. And then..." She stopped.

"Tell me", he said and looked at her.

"...then you became a human again, but that thorn was deep in your chest. And you...died", she explained.

"I died? But...why am I here? I´m sure I´m alive."

"A long time ago I read a book about magic and a spell with that I brought you back to life. Important was that you had to die by black magic. Just the one who really loves you could speak out this spell. Otherwise the killed one wouldn´t wake up again. And...I tried and it worked", she finished.

"Why did you know about this spell? I mean...where did you get that book from?", he asked curious.

"If you allow I would like to keep this as my...secret", she said and looked into his eyes.

He nodded and Lioness lifted her head to kiss him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to his warm body. Then they looked at the camp of the rebels and the small fires that looked like stars in the sky.

**Normally I would say that this is the END of the story...but I´ll write a continuation!!! This continuation will be added as new chapters to this story. Please wait some time...**

**Thanks for reading and please review!!!**


	20. Strange things

**Part II of "The letter of the blue dragon"**

Strange things

Axel woke up in the middle of the night. He didn´t open his eyes because he felt something cold on his throat. Something like metal. He heard a whisper in his room.

"Cut his throat and take the dragon!", hissed a voice next to his bed.

"We have the order to take the dragon, not to kill him", whispered another voice. Axel risked to open one eye and looked around. In the sallow moonlight that fell through the windows he saw the contour of two men who stood next to his bed. One of them had a sword and held it on Axel´s throat. The two were arguing, because the first one wanted to kill him and the second one wanted to let him alive.

Axel used this moment and grabbed the arm of the man with the sword. He threw the sword out of his hand, so it landed on the ground. Then he kicked the man and he was thrown against a cupboard. The second man took his sword and wanted to sting it into Axel´s chest, but he was too fast for him and punched him. The sword flew through the air and bored into the ceiling. As the man slumped passed out on to the ground Axel suddenly noticed another sound behind him.

Quickly he turned around. There stood a third shadow. He just could see his contour. But something in his hands flashed up. "What do you want?", asked Axel.

The shadow didn´t answer. Instead of it, he ran towards Axel and attacked him with a sword. "That´s the wrong answer", grinned Axel and grabbed the arm of the man as he ducked under his attack. He let the sword go and was thrown against the wall with a kick by Axel. Axel went towards him and build up in front of him.

"Tell me what you want or-" He couldn´t finish his sentence because one of the first two men grabbed him from behind and threw him on the ground. Then he sat down on his back and pressed Axel´s right arm against his back. He tried to kick him, but someone clipped his feet. He couldn´t move. The third shadow stood up and knelt down beside Axel.

"Who are you?", hissed Axel. His breath was very fast and he couldn´t breath very well because someone sat on his back.

"Names are unimportant", replied the shadow. His voice sounded like ice.

"And what _is _important?", asked Axel angry and breathless. His arm was aching.

"Your necklace", said the shadow and took the silver necklace around Axel´s neck. He always wore it. With a hard flip he tore the necklace and held the pendant in his hand. "Thanks for your cooperation", he said and turned away.

"Let´s go, we have what we wanted", he ordered the other two men.

With a quick movement Axel got his arm free and sent the man on his back against a wall with his Jo-Lan. The second one was shocked by this and fell back. Axel attacked the leader of the men and kicked his legs. For his surprise the man blocked the attack. He kicked and punched as fast as he could, and the last kick hit the shadow. He fell some steps backwards. That was enough for Axel to take his right arm and get the necklace back. With another kick he sent the man against the wall where his friend laid.

"And thank you very much for giving me this back", he grinned and went into fighting position. The necklace shimmered in his hand.

"Let´s go!", hissed the leader of the men and they jumped out of the window.

Axel ran to the window and wanted to look where they would go. But as he reached it, the men were gone. Everything outside looked like every night. Dark, full of shadows and lit by the sallow moonlight. Moreover there were more than five metres to the ground, but the shadows were nowhere. Maybe they jumped? But that was too high.

He closed the window with a sigh and sat on his bed. _Why did they want to have the necklace? Why is it so important for them?_, he thought.

After the big battle for the freedom of the rebels, it was nearly a week ago, Dresan and the other leaders of the lone rebel groups moved into the castle. The other rebels decided to build a village around the castle. Some frames of the houses were build, but it would take a long time to build a whole village. And not everyone knew how to build a house.

Thomas, a leader from the north and a good friend of Axel´s father, gave Axel, King, Lioness, Hawk and Shark own rooms in the castle. And the castle was very big. There were seven floors, exept the tower, and a lot of rooms. Most were for the people who worked in the castle, the other ones were empty. So the five teens got five rooms next to each other.

One day they had looked through all of Lee´s old things, but they just found his bedroom and lots of pieces of paper and ink to write. Strange to say one drawer of a cupboard in Lee´s room was full of ash. He hadn´t left anything. It seemed as if he had never existed.

The rebels had burned every flag of Lee. The red flags with the gold griffin on it were now past. The rebels hoised their own flag above the walls of "their" castle: A blue dragon with a sword in front of a red background. And now there was no king to rule the kingdom of Landmark. The leader of the rebels decided to choose two ones of them who had the duty to rule the kingdom. With two people they hoped to avoid a dictatorship. And the rest of the leaders were something like a council. They helped the two of the leader with their duties.

Paine had been thrown into the safest prison of whole Landmark. It laid three floors under the castle and always five guards kept watch and made sure he couldn´t escape. The door to his cell was made up of thick wood and iron bars, so it was nearly impossible to get out of it.

Axel couldn´t sleep for the rest of the night. In his hand he held the necklace. The silver was warm as he decided to stand up. It was just after sunrise. He got dressed and looked around in his room. A sword laid on the floor, a second one had bored into the ceiling. One of the cupboards was broken and splinters of wood laid all over the ground. The big, heavy and wooden door had some scratches and in the wall were some stones missed. Those were just some steps away from the wall and broke into thousands of pieces.

He stepped out of his room and went down the corridor. In his right hand was still the necklace. Axel stopped in front of Lioness´ room. He knocked two times and waited. None answered. He knocked a second time. As none answered he opened the door and looked in. The morning sun shined into the room, but Lioness was nowhere in sight. Her bed was empty.

Quietly he closed the door and went to the kitchen. The people there were very busy, so he didn´t want to disturb them and went out into the inner ward of the castle. As he went down the stairs, a figure slided the rail down.

"Shark?", asked Axel.

"Yeah, dude, seven floors and steeply stairs with rails, the perfect place to surf!", replied Shark and was gone.

Axel smiled a little and reached the inner ward. The sun shined and it was a very warm day. Even though it was shortly after sunrise. Axel decided to go for a walk through the new village. He stepped out of the big gate and went down the small street. The walls of the castle were still a little destroyed because of the battle. And because two dragons had damaged it badly. Axel still couldn´t believe what the others had told him. He had really been a dragon? The problem was, he couldn´t remember anything. Just that Eric turned into a moon-dragon, but everything that happened later was gone.

The people were hard working. They build frames or some of them even began with the walls. Horses and cows, sheep and chickens seemed to be everywhere. High hills of strow stood next to every house. The straw was for the roof. A lot of people greeted Axel and smiled as they saw him. He smiled back and said hello to everyone. They all seemed to be happy, even if they worked a lot and very hard.

"Hey, Axel! I was in search of you!", said a voice behind him. As he turned around he saw Alnor, the small rebel boy from Reustra.

"Good morning! Why did you searched me?"

"I haven´t seen you the whole week and was worried! Don´t you want to know what happened after you have left?", asked the boy.

"Of course, tell me", replied Axel and sat on a stone in the near.

The next half hour Alnor told him that after the message arrived them, they packed all their things and came as fast as they could to the castle. They arrived a day before. Dresan allowed Alnor to get a room in the castle and now the boy helped the people with building their houses. And he had been afraid his friends could all die.

"But then I heard what happened! Two dragons fought with each other nearly at the end of the battle. A silver and a black one. Imagine, dragons! Real dragons! Someone told me they could spit fire and they flew above the castle! And you got a thorn into your chest and nearly died, but Lioness saved you and-"

"Don´t forget to breath!", interrupted Axel. Alnor was that excited that he spoke very fast and without a pause.

"Okay, but I finished somehow or other."

"Do you know where I can find Lioness?", asked Axel finally and looked at Alnor. He thought for a moment.

"I´ve seen her about sunrise the last time. She went into that forest", he replied and pointed at the forest in the east.

"Thanks. And the others? I mean King and Hawk."

"King helps the family overthere, three or four houses away from here. And Hawk has a small bow-competition with some other guys from the north and from Reustra. They are in the near of the houses next to the castle", said Alnor and pointed at the other direction.

"Thank you, I have to go now", said Axel and wanted to leave.

"Wait, can I come with you?", asked Alnor and pulled at Axel´s shirt.

"I´m sorry, but not this time. I have to talk to Lioness alone."

Then he went away and left the boy alone between the new houses. He followed the street until it turned into a smaller path. He left the path and turned right into the forest. The sun shined through the green leaves and the wind rustled in the trees. Some birds sang and a small spider crossed Axel´s way. Axel closed his eyes for some seconds and breathed the fresh air of the spring. It was in middle of march.

He arrived at a small creek and watched the running water while he walked next to it. He remembered the time when he and his friends travelled through the whole country. They had often camped next to creeks like this one. Axel noticed some tracks in the soft soil. He followed them, they were maybe Lioness ones. Well, Lioness was a theme for itself. He remembered their first kiss before the battle. His heart beat a little faster as he thought of it. Being together with her was something special. There were so many feelings he felt for her that he couldn´t describe them. But he could describe it with one word, love. He really loved her and the happenings of the battle proved that.

As he walked past a tree he noticed someone sitting on a big stone. It was Lioness. She sat there with crossed legs on the stone full of moss. He went towards her and stopped next to her. Lioness´ brown hair were in a lose ponytail and the sun threw her golden light on them. She stared into the air. As she noticed someone was behind her, she didn´t turn around.

"What are you doing here?", asked Axel.

"I needed some time to think...and what are you doing here?", she asked back.

"I´m in search of you", he answered.

"Well, you found me."

"That´s right. I wanted to talk to you", he said.

"And what do you want to tell me?", she asked as she stood up.

"This night three men came into my room. They had swords and wanted the necklace you gave me. But a fight and a destroyed room later they disappeared", he explained.

Lioness thought for a moment. "Did they get the necklace?", she asked suddenly and very excited.

"No, I got it back."

"Good. You should know: They mustn´t get it. That´s important", she explained.

"And why?", asked Axel and looked at her confused. Lioness leaned against a tree and stared at the stone. She was in thoughts.

"Because...", she started but paused. "Because it...is very...important, that´s all", she said and left. She disappeared between two bushs.

Axel started walking back very slowly. He was wondering about Lioness. She was so different. Moreover everything around him became more and more strange as well. Lee and his things disappeared after the battle and Lioness may hid something. But what? Was there more he had to know?

He walked back to the castle. He was confused of Lioness´ behavior. And why did the men come and wanted to take his necklace? He would find it all out, that was sure. He kicked a stone and held the necklace still in his hand. His grip went stronger. Strange things happened and he wanted to find out what their meaning was.

**Thanks for reading the first chapter of the continuation! I made some changes and I hope you like this version better...Please don´t forget to review!!! **

**If you have ideas for happenings in this story, tell me! I still don´t know about the end, so help me please! I have an abrasive story line, but I need details! Thanks for reading, again, and please review:P**


	21. A new enemy

A new enemy

"Did you get it?" The man with dark clothes stood next to a big tree. The light of a fire threw his shadow at the tree, it flashed the whole time while the flames danced in the cold wind of the evening. The sky was starry and no cloud was in sight. A full moon spent some light, so the rocks behind the man gleamed a little silver. The wind rustled in the trees and bushs and a lonely bird sat on a branch next to the man and was asleep.

"No, master, he was too strong for us", replied one man in black clothes and bowed to his master. A mask hid his face.

"Hmmm..." The man turned his back to the three figures who stood behind him and still bowed to him. He thought for some moments. The flames and the cracking wood in the fire were the only sound in this endless silence. After a long time their master turned around and looked at them. The three men couldn´t see his face, he wore a mask, too. His eyes were just yellow slits in the black mask.

"I want you to go back again. Try to get it a second time. Maybe he´ll expect that you´re coming back, so take as much ninjas as you need with you. With more ninjas you could be strong enough to beat him", ordered the master.

"And what if we can´t beat him? Even with five of us? Master, he is really-"

"Shut up! I know his skills. Trust me, I have a plan. And now, go!" The master turned away and the three ninja disappeared in the shadows of the night. The man stepped towards the rocks behind him and looked up at the full moon. He breathed in the fresh, but cold air.

"I want to see what he really can do", he whispered. A second later he whirled around, jumped on to one branch above him and then to the next one. This way he followed his ninjas without being seen. He jumped faster and faster until the shadows of this dark, cold and starry night in the march gulped him.

"Do you think they´ll come back?", asked King after dinner. Axel had told him about the dark clothed men that wanted to steal his necklace the night before. He just nodded.

"If they really wanted to have the necklace, they´ll come back and try it another time", he explained.

"We could set a trap for them", suggested King.

"Good idea, but...how?" Axel sat down on a chair in King´s room that stood next to the window. Outside the sun setted and threw her orange light into King´s room. King himself leaned against a wall and watched his brazilian tree frog that sat in its terrarium.

"You could put some pillows under your blanket, so it looks as if you are sleeping. Then we´ll hide in your room and wait for them. If they try to attack your double´, we use the moment of surprise and attack them from behind." King crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at Axel who stared out of the window.

"Hey, you hear what I´m saying?"

"What? Oh - sorry...I was in thoughts...but your idea could work." Axel looked at King now. He had been absent-minded. The only thing he could think of was why Lioness was so...different. He found no other word for her behavior when he was around. Sometimes she totally acted out of character and wasn´t herself.

"Did you notice anything different on Lioness in the last few days?", asked Axel finally and hoped King would have an explanation for her behavior.

"Well, not really. I didn´t see her very often in the last couple of days. But what exactly do you mean by _different_?" He rose an eyebrow.

"Nothing very special. But sometimes I think she´s not herself. It seems as if she totally changed", explained Axel and stared out of the window again. He could see the inner ward. The sun had setted now and some stars were at the sky. The moon was full and shined on to the dark, cold walls of the castle. Some flags with blue dragons were moved by the wind.

"She´s a girl and girl´s do sometimes act different. First they´re nice to you, and in the next moment they just want to argue. Very spirited creatures", smirked King and walked towards the wooden door. "Let´s set the trap before they come. And don´t worry, she´ll become normal again in some time. You just have to wait."

"I hope you´re right", mumbered Axel and followed his friend. They came for Shark and Hawk, but Lioness wasn´t found by anyone. As if she disappeared.

"Then we have to start without her", said Hawk as they walked into Axel´s room.

Shark put some pillows under the blanket. "Cool double, dude", he smiled and checked his work. He smiled as he finished. "Looks totally like you."

"But I think his left arm is a little too big", noticed Hawk and stepped next to Shark.

"Make it better, if you can!"

"I could-"

"Guys! This is not the time to argue! This double looks like a human being in the darkness and that´s all that counts", interrupted King. Both kept silent for the rest of the preperation.

Later everything was ready. "Hide somewhere and stay there until I give you a signal", said Axel and went ot a cupboard. He hid in the shadow of the furniture. Shark hid in his drawer, Hawk behind an armchair and King in the shadow of the drawer. Then everyone stayed in silent. They waited and waited. One time Shark yawned silently, but that had been the only noise in a long time.

After midnight something happened. A dark shadow appeared at the window and cut the glass with something. After the shadow had cut out a small hole, he put his hand through it and searched the handle to open the window. He found it and opened it silently. Then he jumped into the room and made a role after he landed. He went into fighting position, but then he didn´t notice anything dangerous and turned to the window.

Axel saw the shadow in the moonlight very clear. It was a man, not taller than himself. He wore black clothes and a mask hid his face. On his back was a scabbard that was bent a little. Because of the form of the scabbard Axel recognized this man as a ninja. He had heard of those people who were great fighters. They could disappear in front of your eyes in a cloud of smoke.

Another ninja climbed through the window and landed next to the first one. This way five ninjas came into the room and stood next to Axel´s bed now. One of them took a step forward and looked under the blanket.

It was the right time now. Axel gave his friends a signal and they attacked the ninjas from behind. King grabbed two of them and threw them into a wall. Hawk punched one so he fell against a cupboard and laid on the ground. Shark punched another ninja who was too slowly. He fell on the ground and didn´t move. The last one of them had noticed Axel before and ducked under his attack. He went into fighting position as Axel did, too.

"Nice to see you again", he smirked. The ninja didn´t move. "Tell me what you want here, you have no chance against all of us."

"Sure?" The ninja clapped his hands two times. Suddenly five more ninjas appeared behind him, everyone had a sword. He ordered something and the ninjas attacked the four guys. The ninjas who came in first fought now, too. Three of them fought hardly with King, two with Shark and two with Hawk, the three others, including their leader, fought with Axel.

He stood in fighting position in front of the leader and waited for them to attack. The ninja spoke in a strange language to the others. He ordered them something. Then they attacked. The first one tried to kick Axel, but he blocked, grabbed the ninja´s leg and threw him against the broke cupboard from the night before. But he stood up again. The two others attacked him from behind, but he avoided their swords and tried to kick them. They blocked. This way they fought the whole time. Axel blocked their attacks, the ninjas blocked his attacks and kicked or punched back. None hit the other one.

For a second Hawk was unconcentrated and didn´t notice the ninja behind him. He grabbed Hawk, threw him into the open drawer and locked it with a chair. "Hey! Let me out of here!" He hammered against the drawer, but the wood was too thick and because of the chair he couldn´t get out. "That´s unfair!"

King heard Hawk´s screams and wanted to help him, but another ninja pulled the carpet under his feet away, so he fell hardly on the ground. As the man wanted to sting the sword into his chest, King rolled quickly away and grabbed the ninja´s legs. As he laid on the ground King took him into a strong grip, so the man couldn´t move.

Shark avoided the attack of two ninjas and ducked under the sword of another one. "Dudes, chill out and calm down", smirked Shark. "Oh, and someone´s behind you."

"Do you really think we would be taken by such an old trick?",asked one of the ninjas and took a step towards Shark. But suddenly someone came from behind and kicked the two into their backs. They fell forward and hit the door hardly, so the wood broke and may splinters laid all over the floor. Shark ducked as they flew over him. Then he saw Axel who rolled on to his feet again. "Thanks, dude", he said. Axel grinned, but suddenly someone kicked him into his stomach and he fell back against the hard stone wall. He sank to his knees and held his stomach.

The ninja who had kicked him was the leader. He walked slowly towards Axel. Shark ran towards the man and wanted to attack him, but the ninja moved very fast and threw Shark over his shoulder on to a desk that stood next to the window. He laid between pieces of paper and a small container with ink and passed out. Axel stood up again.

He noticed that two ninjas laid in the corridor and had passed out, King fought with four ninjas, but he was not strong enough and they tied him up with a rope. Then they let him lay where he was and came to their leader to help him. Seven ninjas and their leader stood in front of Axel now.

"Eight against one? I think this is a little unfair...for you!" With a fast movement Axel attacked the group of ninjas. He kicked one of them and ducked under the attack of another one. He made a backflip, landed with his hands on the shoulders of one ninja and threw him against a wall. As he jumped away from an attack someone grabbed his legs and he fell hardly on the ground. Two ninja pressed him to the ground and his arms to his back. He couldn´t move them. Now seven ninjas held him on the ground and he wasn´t able to move. Like the first time when the ninjas came. But now he couldn´t do anything, seven ninjas were too much.

"You´re right, it´s really unfair", laughed the leader and bent down. He wanted to take the necklace, but Axel didn´t wear it.

"Where is it?", hissed the leader and stood up.

"What do you mean?" Axel did as if he didn´t know what the ninja wanted.

"The necklace! Where is it?" He was getting angry.

"I don´t know...maybe someone came earlier than you?"

"Give it to me, or your friends will be past, if you know what I mean", threatened the ninja.

Axel thought quickly. He had to give the ninja the necklace, otherwise he would kill his friends. "Okay, I´ll give you the necklace", he said and tried to move, but he gave up after some seconds. It was senseless. He felt how the anger came up in him. He couldn´t do anything and that made him angry.

"No, tell me where it is, that´s enough."

Axel didn´t answer. He thought of any way to beat this ninjas, or any way to escape and safe his friends. "And?" The ninja got impatient. "Answer!" As Axel didn´t reply he nodded to one of his ninjas who took out a skean and held it on King´s throat. Axel looked scared over to his friend. With his look he asked King what to do. His best friend looked first to the ninjas, then he nodded slowly. Axel sighed.

"It´s in the cupboard overthere, in the second drawer", he told the leader.

"It would be better for you and your friends if it is there", said the ninja and looked into the drawer of the cupboard. Some seconds later he held the silver necklace in his hand.

"Let´s go now", he ordered to his ninjas and walked towards the window. Axel started a last try to get free, but the ninjas were too strong. Helpless he saw how the ninja was about to leave with the necklace. He mustn´t let them escape with the necklace. If they wanted to have it, it had to be very important, and that was one reason to stop them. The ninja looked out of the window now and called his friends over to him.

**Thanks for reading this chapter. Please review!**


	22. Many questions

Many questions

The ninja wanted to leave, but suddenly a dark figure came through the window and kicked him. He fell hardly on the ground, the necklace slided over the ground and stopped next to Axel. Two ninjas let him go and went into fighting position. Axel had waited for exactly this moment. He got his legs free and kicked the ninjas who pressed his arms to his back. They fell surprised back and let him go.

Then he used his Jo-Lan and sent all of the seven ninjas against a wall. Quickly he turned around and freed King. "Just in time", he said and stood up.

"Who are you?" Axel turned around to the shadow who had kicked the leader of the ninja. The shadow slowly walked towards the two guys until it stood in the sallow moonlight. Its contours were very clear to recognize in the silver light of the moon and its eyes looked straight into Axel´s.

"Lioness?" Axel took a step to her. Now King came back into the room with a torch. In the light of the torch Axel could see her better. Her hair were in a ponytail and she looked into his eyes with an emotionless look. "What are you doing here?", he asked confused. They hadn´t found Lioness over the whole day and now she stood in front of him. Moreover she had come through the window and not through the door.

"I thought you may need help", she said as she bent down to pick up the necklace. She gave it to him. "Thanks", he whispered and took the silver necklace. The metal was cold. Somehow Lioness´ look was different. She looked absent-minded and something on her gave him strange feelings in his belly.

"What?", she suddenly asked. He had been staring at her. Quickly he looked away and walked over to the leader of the ninja. "We should bring them away." Then he walked back to Lioness and King. He looked around, the whole room was destroyed. The door was broken, just like the cupboard and the bed. the carpet laid somewhere in a corner and a chair was cut into pieces.

"You can sleep in my room tonight, if you want", suggested King as he noticed Axel´s look. They carried Shark out of the room and brought him into his room. He wasn´t hurt, just passed out. Some guards should bring the ninjas away, but as they came into Axel´s room they were gone. So they went out and searched them around the castle. Without success.

"Okay, I´ll go sleeping, I´m tired. See you later", said King and yawned demonstrative as he saw the look Axel gave him. This _please-let-us-alone-I-have-to-talk-to-her-_look worked and King disappeared in his room.

Lioness wanted to leave, too, but Axel took her arm and held her back. "Wait, I want to talk to you", he said and looked into her eyes. Something was different. She turned to him. "And about what?"

He said nothing. He didn´t know what to say, how to start. "Let´s go for a walk", he finally said and she just nodded. They went out of the castle and followed a small path into the forest. They kept quiet the whole way.

"What do you want to tell me?", asked Lioness and broke the silence. He breathed in the fresh but cold air. Then he stopped walking and turned towards her. He looked deeply into her eyes. But he couldn´t see any feeling or thought. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards his body. He kissed her gently. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. His heart beat faster and the blood rushed through his head.

But he broke the kiss soon. "What´s wrong with you? Your totally acting out of character sometimes", he said and let her go.

"I´m alright", she replied and avoided his look.

"Then tell me why you´re very often away and why you´re so different", he said. Now he wanted to know what she hid.

"I went very often in this forest, I needed some time alone", she said and looked up at the trees.

"Hm." He noticed she avoided his look. "Whatever it is, you can trust me. Tell me what´s up."

She started walking on. "It has nothing to do with trust, Axel. I´ll tell you when the right time is coming", she replied. "And when is this?", he asked interested. Somehow he understood nothing. The right time? What did she mean?

"I´ll tell you when", she answered. "Trust me, I know what I´m talking about. You´re not ready to hear it", she added.

Axel said nothing. They walked back to the castle in silence. The sky was starry and a full moon was high at the darkblue sky. No cloud was in sight. An owl was hooting. But that was the only sound in the endless darkness of the night. The lights of the castle looked like small stars. The grass was a little wet because of the dew. And the wind was cold and rustled in the leaves of the bushs and trees.

They walked out of the forest and towards the castle. They were walking over a meadow. The grass reached Lioness´ waist and her clothes got a little wet. "Please tell me now, I really want to know it." She sighed.

"I can´t. I´m not allowed to tell you", she replied and looked at him. He took her hand and walked very close to her. "Can I do anything for that you´ll tell me?", he asked and looked into her eyes pleadingly

"No."

He looked away disappointed. "You have feelings like a stone", he said with played disappointment.

"I know, that´s why I like stones that much", she smiled. "Since when do you like stones?", he asked and looked at her confused.

"Since I know you." Now she grinned.

"Nice." He let her hand go and walked a little faster than her. "Wait, it was just a joke!" He didn´t turn around and was now some metres in front of her. Suddenly he fell over something and landed on the ground. Lioness couldn´t see him in the high grass. Quickly she ran over to the place were he had fallen, but he was gone. The grass was flat, so he fell into the grass at this place. She was confused.

Lioness bent down to get a closer look to the flat grass, but suddenly a dark shadow jumped out of the high grass next to her and threw her on the ground. She screamed soundless and looked up at the guy above her. She saw his face in the moonlight. "You idiot!", she laughed and sat up.

Axel smiled. "You can´t call me an idiot. Stones have no characters", he joked and looked into her eyes. The moonlight was thrown on to her face so he could see it very clear. The moonlight made her look more beautiful than she was somehow or other. He didn´t notice he stared at her.

"What-?" She couldn´t end her sentence because he started kissing her. Slowly she fell back into the grass and wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt that her heart beat faster. Through her wet clothes she felt the warmth of his body and his heartbeat. She put every feeling she felt for him into that nearly endless kiss. A very long time they both laid there in the grass, kissing, and were just happy to have each other.

Nearly at the morning Axel came into King´s room. Quietly he closed the door not to wake up his friend. Then he sneaked over to a sofa next to the window and winced as he heard a noise next to him. He whirled around. King stood right beside him and looked at his best friend. "And? What did she tell you?", he asked curiously. "And why are you so wet?"

Axel smiled a little and sat down on the sofa. King sat down on his bed. "She said she isn´t allowed to tell me. She wanted to do it when the right time comes", he replied and sighed. "But that doesn´t answer why she´s very often away", he added.

"You mean she´s hiding something important?"

"Maybe...What I mean is that she isn´t _allowed_ to tell me, not that she doesn´t want to. Who does not want her to tell me what´s up?" Axel laid on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. He crossed his arms behind his head.

King shrugged his shoulders. There was a silence for a long time. "You didn´t tell my why your clothes are so wet", he smirked.

Axel laughed shortly. "Let me say...the grass is very high and full of dew."

"And that´s why your hair is wet, too", said King. His best friend smiled a little and closed his eyes for some moments. Suddenly he sat up and listened. "Do you hear this, too?", asked Axel and tried to get out where the sound came from. King listened, too. Then he stood up and went to the door. He opened it and looked out into the corridor.

"It comes out of your room", he whispered. Axel stood up and walked over to him. "Then let´s go and look what it is." They went out quietly and followed the strange sound. It was like a choked scream. In front of the destroyed door they stopped. King nodded to Axel who rolled quickly into the room, went into fighting position and looked around. There was nothing exept the darkness and the shadows of the broken furniture.

"Here´s nothing", he said and looked around, confused. He still heard the sound, but...

King listened for some seconds. Then he walked over to the drawer, took the chair in front of it away and opened the doors. He started laughing as someone came out of the drawer. It was Hawk. Now Axel laughed, too, as he saw his friend coming out of the drawer.

"Okay, was it a joke or did you really forget me?", he asked angry and looked first at Axel, then at King. Both switched asking looks until King replied, "Just a joke, but we have really forgotten you Hawk. Sorry."

Before Hawk could answer, Axel interrupted, "I think you´re really tired after such a long time in the drawer. Don´t you want to go into your room and sleep a little?"

Hawks head was red because of anger, but he kept quiet and stepped out of the room without a word. He growled something and closed the door of his room with a loud noise. "Elegant rescue." King smiled at Axel.

**Please review! And thanks for all of those great ideas you gave me for this story, I´ll try to use as much of them as I can! **

**Don´t forget to review and thanks for reading!!!**


	23. Mysterious

Mysterious

A week later Axel went through a near town. He wanted to hear about some new themes and what the people said about the happenings with the rebels and the battle. But until now he hadn´t heard very much. The houses were made up of red stones and on their roofs was straw. Some of them were very large and had colorful doors or windowframes. Small lanes were between the houses and the sunlight didn´t reach them. There were shadows and darkness. The people didn´t mind those dark lanes and walked their way.

As Axel walked past such a lane someone suddenly whispered his name. He stopped and listened. "Pst! Hey, you! Axel Manning, come over here!" Carefully he looked into the lane and noticed a small figure that stood there. Its voice was raspy and sounded old. He took a step towards it.

"Why do you know my name?", he asked distrustful.

The figure didn´t answer his question and said, "Do you want to know your future? I know everything."

"I don´t believe you", he answered and wanted to walk away.

"Wait!", said the figure and took a step towards Axel. He stopped. "I don´t want anything for this. Just give me your right hand and I´ll read your future out of it." The figure stepped out of the shadows. Now he could see her clearly. It was an old woman in a large, black robe and with long, white hair that was in a long plait. Her skin was very pale and she looked really old because of the wrinkels in her face. In her left hand was a wooden stick that helped her to stand straight up.

Axel hesitated. Slowly he gave her his right hand. She took his hand and looked at it for a long time. Her skin was very cold and raspy.

"Hmmmm...you see this line here? It means your future is very difficult...", she began. In his mind Axel rolled with his eyes. He didn´t believe her, but let her do.

"This short line means that a big _sanguis_ lays behind you. _Sanguis _ is the latin word for bloodshed. Moreover I can see your past is full of painful memories, especially the last ten years. Someone who meant a lot to you died."

Now Axel listened carefully. Why did she know that his father died?

"But the last year was better for you, you got to know new friends", she continued and looked at another line on his hand. That was very creepy...

"I know my past. Tell me about the future", interrupted Axel and looked at her. She rose her head and looked into his eyes. Her eyes were nearly white. A shudder ran down his back. Slowly she looked at his hand again.

"Well...", she paused. "One of your friends has a big secret, a secret that could change your whole life. But I can´t tell you more about this, the line is very unclear. That means your future is vague. But I can see that there will be a positive happening in some time."

"What means _in some time_?",asked Axel curiously.

"It can mean in two weeks or in a year", she replied and smirked. "Oh, your luck won´t last very long. Shortly after this happening there will be something very bad, something that destroys the positive happening forever", she continued.

"This line means...oh."

"What? Something bad?" He tried not to sound too curious.

"There will be a big _proelium_, that means battle. But not a battle like you know, with many warriors and so on. No, it won´t be a bloodshed, but a very important battle. The line next to it means _mandatum_ or mission. You can call it duty if you want. Your duty is very important for this battle."

"Can you tell me anything about my duty?" Axel was confused. Another duty? Why always him?

She studied his hand very long. Then she suddenly let his hand go and stepped backwards. Her eyes widened in shock. "You...you are it!"

"What?"

"You...you are..._custodum draconem_! _Filium draconem est_! _Me hercle, proelium accedet! Mortuus futurum sumus!_", she whispered and ran back into the shadows. Axel wanted to held her back, but she was too fast, even though she seemed to be about a hundred years old. Confused he stepped on the street again and thought of her words. Was she right or just a little crazy? No. He shook his head. She was just an old, crazy woman...wasn´t she?

Quickly he went back to his horse that stood in the near of the gate of the town and sat on it. Then he left the town and rode straight back to the castle. His horse ran very fast and he tried to concentrat on something else as the words of the woman.

He planned to find out what Lioness´ secret was. In the last few days she disappeared very often for a very long time. Maybe he could follow her today...?

_One of your friends has a big secret that could change your whole life..._

Axel shook his head and pushed this thought away. The words of the woman whirled around in his head. No, he concentrated on Lioness. How could he follow her without being seen?

_Your future is vague...there will be a big battle, but without bloodshed...your duty is very important for this battle..._

"Okay, enough of this", he said to himself as he reached the castle. He went into the stablings and left his horse there.

_Filium draconem..._

Filium draconem? He remembered she spoke very often latin. She used words like _proelium _and _mandatum_. But what meant _filium draconem _or _custodum draconem_? In both sentences was the word _draconem_. But what was its meaning? He went upstairs. Maybe King knew what it meant. As he reached his door he knocked and stepped in.

"King...?" His best friend wasn´t there. He closed the door again and walked aimless through the large corridors. Then he met Hawk.

"Hey, wait a minute! Do you know where King is?", asked Axel. Hawk stopped.

"No, I don´t know where he is." Axel wanted to walk on. "Wait! Do you know where I can hide until evening?", asked Hawk suddenly in a whisper.

"Why?"

"Shark is in search of me...He wants us all to go on a trip to the lake here in the near. But...as you know I can´t swim and don´t want to", he explained.

"Why don´t you want to swim? You could learn it", suggested Axel.

"No, that would destroy my haircut", said Hawk and went away.

Axel rolled with his eyes and continued walking. "But you could hide in my drawer!", shouted Axel after Hawk. As an answer he got a short growl before Hawk went down the stairs. Axel grinned and gave up to search King. He didn´t find his friend and he wouldn´t in this big castle. It could last days. Then he got an idea. Quickly he went upstairs to the third floor and followed a large corridor. Then he opened a large door on the right side of the corridor and stepped in.

The library of the castle was giantic. There were five metre high cupboards with books in different covers. Some of them were covered with brown or black leather, others with white, green, blue, yellow, lightbrown, lightblue, darkblue, grey, red, darkred, redbrown or silver colored leather. The cupboards were very long and filled this giantic room. Between some cupboards were large tables and a lot of chairs. Candles stood on the tables, but they weren´t lit.

The sunlight came through the large and bright windows. They went from the ceiling to the floor and enough light came in. Big stairs connected the third floor of the castle with the fourth one. The library was in two floors. To the left and to the right of the stairs stood small statues of demons, they were made up of black stone and looked very angry.

Axel saw that none was in the library exept himself. He walked over to the first cupboard and looked at the books. They were all about plants and herbs. The next cupboard had books about demons, magical creatures, magic and black magic. But nothing about latin. This way Axel looked for books about latin. He wanted to know what the words meant the woman spoke.

One time he climbed a ledder to reach the top of the cupboard. There he found a book about latin grammar. And another one about vocabulary. He nearly fell down as he climbed down because the books were very thick and heavy. He laid every book he found on a table and continued his search. Two hours later he sat down at the table. To his left and to his right were high towers of thick, leather-covered books about latin grammar, vocabulary and spells. In front of him was another tower with books about latin.

He took the first book and opened it. It was about grammar. For the next hours he tried to come through the latin grammar, the vocabulary and the spells. He put down notes to every important thing. He didn´t notice the time and read until the late night.

Lioness went upstairs to the third floor. She was in search of Axel. Hawk had seen him walking towards the library. And that was her aim now. She walked through the large corridor and opened the door of the library. It was a big, wooden door. Quietly it swang open. She looked around and noticed there were some candles lit. She followed the light and found the candles standing on a table with a lot of books. The books were stacked in big tower.

She noticed someone sat behind all those books and came nearer. Between the towers of books sat Axel, asleep. His head laid on one open book, in his right hand was a pencil. He breathed deeply and in a regular rythm. She smirked and looked at the books. She took one of them and looked at the cover.

"Latin grammar?", she asked herself quietly and looked at Axel. Then she saw the notes he had made. Carefully she pulled the piece of paper under the book away and read the notes.

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**draco, draconis **- dragon_

_**custos, custodis **- guardian_

_**filium **- son_

_**est** - 3rd person singular, infinitive: **esse**_

_**accedet **- future of **accedere**_

_**me hercle **- shout like "my god", often used in old Rome_

_**mortuus** - dead, killed_

_**futurum sumus **- form of **futurum esse**. Means "we will be"_

_**Translation: **_

_**custodum draconem **- Guardian of the dragon_

_**filium draconem est** - He is the son of the dragon_

_**me hercle, proelium accedet **- My god, the battle will come_

_**mortuus futurum sumus **- We will be dead_

Lioness looked at Axel. He was still sleeping. She was a little shocked and surprised. _Why does he know about it? Who told him about the _filium draconemshe thought and laid the notes carefully at their place again. Suddenly he woke up and lifted his head. He looked at Lioness tired. "What are you doing here?", he asked and yawned a little.

"I was in search of you", she replied and wanted to leave.

"And why?"

"We were at the lake today and you didn´t come, so I was a little worried. But I have to go now. You should go to bed, it´s nearly morning", she said and left.

"Lioness, wait, I wanted..." But it was too late. He heard how Lioness closed the door. Slowly he stood up and brought the books back to their cupboards. He had all what he wanted. Then he took his notes and put them into his pocket. Thoughtfully he went to his room. Meanwhile he had repaired the bed and the door, but one cupboard and the window were still broken. That didn´t matter. It was end of spring, so the nights became more and more warm.

Axel couldn´t sleep. He got up and went to the window. The air of the night was cold and fresh. The moon stood high at the starry sky and threw his silver light on the walls of the castle. Axel leaned on the window frame and watched the million of stars at the sky. Meanwhile he could think about why the woman had called him _son of the dragon _or _guardian of the dragon_. Everything did not make sense.

**Thanks for reading this chapter!!! And excuse some latin mistakes if there are some. I´m still learning it and tried to build some easy sentences... :P**

**Please review!!!**


	24. A Midnight trip

A midnight trip

The next day Axel was more often absent-minded and unconcentrated. He thought of the old woman and her foretells. What meant _the son of the dragon_, or _the guardian of the dragon_? He was confused. Moreover he wanted to know something about Lioness´ secret. To find out what it was he planned to follow her this time if she went away. He told Alnor to follow her the whole day and if she wanted to leave the castle he should tell Axel. Meanwhile Axel was in the library and looked for books about dragons. If there would be some, there was surely something about guardians of the dragons or so.

He was on the fourth floor now and looked through a lot of books. He took every one that had something to do with dragons. He did everything like the day before. Axel was looking at every book in every cupboard, took the ones he needed and brought them to a table. This way he found nearly fourtyeight books. But that weren´t all. He stopped after he laid the fourtyninth book onto a tower of about fifteen books. Then he sat down at the table and took the first book to read it.

There were many information. All about dragons, creatures of who he thought they wouldn´t exist. But deep in himself he was a dragon and showed it in the battle. Nevertheless he didn´t believe what his friends had told him. Not really. Just a little. A little much. Maybe.

In one book for example, it was covered with darkgreen leather, stood something about the anatomy of dragons. Another book was about how dragons can spit fire. The next one was about different species, like the European Dragon, the Moon-Dragon, the Wyvern, the Knucker etc. But that was not that what he wanted to know. So he took the next one and so on.

The sun setted. He took the twentiest book as a young boy came running towards him. "Axel...she...is at the stablings...and wants...to ride away...", he gasped. Alnor had run very fast and had no breath now.

"Okay, thanks." Axel stood quickly up, jumped down the stairs to the third floor and ran down to the ground floor. He ran out of the door and noticed Lioness rode out of the gate. He ran over to the stablings, saddled his horse as fast as he could and followed her. She was very far in front of him, she was just a black point at the horizon. Then he came a little nearer and was sure she couldn´t see him. Lioness rode into the forest.

As Axel came into the forest he noticed she rode very slowly now. Her horse walked slowly, but breathed hardly. Maybe she made a small break to let her horse recover. It was dark now. The sun had setted and the moon stood not very high at the sky. The silver light came through the leaves of the trees and lit Lioness sitting on her horse. Axel followed her in a safe distance. In the moonlight she looked very beautiful, even though he couldn´t see her beautiful eyes.

A long time later she stopped and tied her horse to a tree. They were deep in the forest now. Then, without a torch or any other light, she left the path and disappeared between two bushs. He followed her after he tied his horse to a tree, too. Then he walked through the bushs and saw her tracks in the soft soil. It was a little difficult to see them, but the moon spent enough light.

He tried not to make any sound and followed her tracks for a long time. As he saw the light of a fire he stopped and looked through two bushs. There was a small campfire on a clearing. Axel saw that Lioness stood next to the fire, her shadow danced on the ground because of the wild moving flames. Smoke rose into the air.

But she wasn´t the only one at the campfire. There was a man, clothed like one of the ninjas who had attacked Axel a week before. He sneaked a little closer to them and tried to hear what they were talking about.

"Did someone follow you?", asked the ninja. His eyes were just yellow slits. On his chest Axel saw the head of a dragon.

"No, master Dragon, just like the times before."

"So why did you come?"

"I wanted to know when you want to tell him the truth", she said. "He found out about the _filium draconem_, or the guardian of the dragon, like you would say. I´m afraid he´ll find it out on his own", she explained.

Axel got curiously. He leaned a little forward.

The ninja wanted to answer, but suddenly he stopped and listened. Then he didn´t move but nodded to someone. Someone in Axel´s direction. Before he could react someone grabbed him from behind and threw him out of the bush. He landed in front of the ninja. Axel wanted to stand up, but another ninja came out of nowhere and held him on the ground. This time Axel didn´t want to defend himself. He just let the ninja do.

"Who are you and why are you here?", asked the dragon-ninja in front of him and looked down at him.

"That´s what I wanted to ask you and her", he glanced shortly at Lioness. "You know who I am, you´re talking about me."

The dragon-ninja didn´t answer and just looked at him. Lioness said nothing, too. "You must be the master of the ninjas who wanted to steal the necklace", said Axel.

"That´s right", was the short answer.

"And you worked for him the whole time, didn´t you?" Axel looked at Lioness now. In his look was pure anger and disappointment. He felt totally betrayed by her. She was the only one he ever loved and now she stood on the evil side. He couldn´t believe it.

"It´s not that what you´re thinking...", she began, but he interrupted her.

"Of course, it isn´t what I´m thinking. You´re lying. You called him _master_. I guess you´re one of his stupid ninja-guys. Maybe you just wanted to win my trust to get the necklace", he hissed.

Now Axel got free and kicked the ninja against a tree. He stepped towards Lioness and stared at her with pure anger. The dragon-ninja watched them patiently.

"Why should I? I gave you the necklace", she defended herself.

"Maybe this guy appeared shortly after the battle and wanted you to do what he wants!" He nearly shouted.

"You don´t understand this!"

"You used my love to you to get this stupid necklace back!"

"I love you and you know that!" Her voice got louder and she got angry.

"I bet this is a lie! Another stupid lie of you! Do you know something? I don´t want this...thing." He took the pendant of the necklace and with a short, hard flip he tore the necklace and threw it hardly on the ground. Blood was rushing through his head and his heart beat very fast. He had never been that angry and had never felt that betrayed. The one he trusted that much betrayed him.

"And it doesn´t matter to me if I´m the dragon warrior, the guardian of the dragon or even the dragon´s son! I hate this necklace and...", he paused shortly. He shook a little. "...I hate you", he added in a whisper.

With this he walked quickly and furious into the forest. Slowly the light of the campfire weakened until just the light of the moon lit Axels way. He felt a heat in his head and was nearly blind because of the rage. Growling he left Lioness and the ninjas behind him and walked quickly and without turning around back to his horse. As he reached it, he sat on it and rode away, as fast as he could.

Lioness stared into the direction Axel had gone to. She stared into the darkness and hoped he would come back and say sorry and he didn´t meant it so. But he didn´t. She was sure now it had been his full seriousness. He hated her. Lioness felt some tears of rage and sadness came up into her eyes. She tried not to show her emotion in front of Dragon, the ninja behind her, and swallowed her tears down.

Slowly she bent down and picked up the necklace. The silver dragon shimmered in the dancing flames of the fire.

"We should have told him earlier about it", she began quietly.

"You know he is not ready for it. Give him some time to calm down", replied Dragon with a gently voice.

"But what if he won´t forgive me?", she asked uncertain. The silver pendant in her hand felt as cold as ice. She felt the cold wind stroking her hair out of her face. She heard the wind in the rustling leaves of the trees and she smelled the smell of a night in end of spring. All this had been there nearly a week ago, too. But now everything was different. She was alone. Axel hated her and she was desperated about what to do.

She would have liked to cry the whole night, but she knew this was no answer for her problem.

"You should go now", said Dragon´s voice behind her. She nodded and turned around. Dragon was gone. Lioness put out the fire and walked back to her horse, afraid, to come back home. She was afraid to see Axel again.

The next morning Axel went downstairs and into the kitchen. At the table were sitting King, Shark Hawk and...Lioness. They were all having breakfast. Axel said a short "good morning" and sat down at the table. He tried not to notice Lioness was there and ate something, quietly.

"Err..., where have you two been yesterday?",asked King and tried to start a conversation. He knew the mood was very bad and wanted to make it better.

"You can ask this _Miss Leone_, she knows about it very well", replied Axel coldly and avoided Lioness sad look.

"_Miss Leone_? Dude, why isn´t she _Mrs Manning_ yet?", asked Shark curiously. Axel lookd at him with anger.

"You can wait as long as you want, but she won´t be Mrs Manning in a million of years." With this Axel stood up and left. He avoided the looks of the others and closed the door quietly.

"Wow, what´s wrong with him? A week ago he was the happiest man I´ve ever seen and now...?" Hawk looked at the door. Then his look fell on Lioness. "Do you know what´s up?", asked King.

Lioness didn´t answer. Without a word she stood up and left, too.

"Things are getting stranger and stranger, dudes", noticed Shark and shook his head.

**Not a very long chapter, but I think it is a good one. I hope you liked it as well! Please review and let me know what I can do better the next time, k? Thanks a lot to you great readers and for your nice reviews!!! )**


	25. Destroyed trust

Destroyed trust

Somewhere in a lonely house, very far away from the castle...

The snowstorm blew very hard. Ice was on the windows and outside everything was white. The wind blew through some slits in the old wood of the walls, but the fire of a fireplace filled the house with a comfortable warmth. In the ground floor of this house stood a desk and a chair. Some candles were lit and spent a little light for the man who was working on something on the desk.

"Just one or two weeks and the first one will be ready...then they´ll give me the throne back, voluntary, of course. Otherwise my creature will demonstrate its powers", whispered the man and bowed over big, with black leather covered books. He read two lines of a long text and searche for a bottle in a large cupboard next to the desk. There were many herbs and essences and mixtures. He found the bottle he needed and put the plant that was in it into a large bowl.

"They´ll see...I´m not that stupid like they thought!" He laughed shortly. Then he stood up and took a mirror that laid in the cupboard, too. He spoke a short spell and the surface of the mirror changed. Now he saw not his mirror image, but a young man and a woman who were arguing somewhere in a forest. The man threw something small on the ground and left angry.

"Great...they´ll be so concentrated on their own problems that they won´t notice what I´m going to do. Poor Lioness, poor Axel...and in some time...poor world!"

Axel left the kitchen angry. Very fast he walked to the library and arrived there just minutes later. He found the table with the books about dragons he had placed there the day before and sat down on a chair. He needed to calm down. He took a book and began to read.

Desperated he tried to concentrate on the texts and the information. But somehow he was absent-minded. _I can´t love someone who betrayed me. Lioness lied at me and betrayed me, and I believed her! I´m such an idiot! Why didn´t I see through her stupid game earlier?_, he asked himself. Then he shook his head and concentrated on the texts again. He didn´t want to think of her. But in his mind were two green-golden eyes that looked at him. These eyes belonged to...

No, he had to forget her. Lioness was on the bad side now, she betrayed him and his friends and everyone else. He couldn´t trust her. The next text was about dragons in Africa:

_There are a lot of Wyverns in Africa. They like the hot weather and can find perfect places to build their nests. Also they have a lot to eat there. Their favorite food for example are elefants. But they are hunting lions, too. Mostly lionesses, ..._

He closed the book. Lioness. Again. Moreover he didn´t want to know anything about african dragons. He took the next book and looked at the cover. _Dragons and legends_ it said. That could be something. He opened it and began to read the legend of an old dragon in Landmark:

_Once there had been an old dragon in Landmark. He was nearly fifteen metres long and had giantic wings. If he flew above the country there was always a hard blowing wind. But he was very nice and friendly to the people of Landmark and didn´t kill anyone. Some people say if you looked into his deep, gently and green-golden eyes..._

He turned to the next page. In his mind a pair of green-golden eyes was watching him. He sighed and closed the book. At the moment he couldn´t think of anything else than Lioness. He didn´t want to, but his head filled with thoughts of her. _No, I hate her...she betrayed me..._, he said to himself and stared out of the window. The sun shined through the large windows and the weather looked very good. No cloud was in sight.

The sun shined so bright and gloatingly. She seemed to be happy about Axel´s bad mood and seemed to laugh at him.

Lioness stood at the window in her room. What should she do? Axel won´t listen to her, that was sure. He thought she lied at him just to get the necklace. She leaned with her arms on the frame of the window and stared at some trees far away on a meadow at the horizon. It was a warm and sunny day and everything seemed to be happy in contrast to her feelings. She felt very bad and sad and was desperated, confused and so on. She felt as if every negative feeling was in her.

In her right hand she held the necklace. Even though it has been in her hand since nearly an hour the silver felt cold. As cold as ice. She thought of any way to tell Axel why she did it. Why she helped Dragon.

Dragon appeared shortly after the battle. He wanted Lioness to tell Axel something very important, something that could change his life forever. And to tell him about the next battle. Axel was the dragon warrior and had saved everyone in the battle. But this had not been his real duty. Every 2000 years there is a special constellation of stars that allows the one who posses the silver dragon-pendant to do a spell. If the one is evil, he would be able to rule the world with cruelty. That was what the first dragon warrior prevented.

He had used the Jo-Lan power and the power of the dragons to defeat an evil man who wanted to use this star constellation. He had been a Jo-Lan warrior, too. But he turned to the evil side and used his powers to defeat everything that was good. The two fought three days and nights until the good one could defeat the evil one. He took the good power of the dragons out of the evil warrior and put it into a silver pendant in form of a dragon.

But its power is still very huge. And if someone evil wants to use this pendant the power of the dragons will float into him and make him invincible. And it has always been the duty of the dragon warriors to prevent that anyone else exept themselves uses the power of the dragons. That´s why they were often called _filium draconem_, son of the dragon. They had a lot of names like _dragon warrior_, _guardian of the dragon_ or _the dragon´s son_. The last dragon warrior had been Axel´s father, but he gave the pendant back to the monks in the Jo-Lan temple in China, because he thought it wasn´t safe if it was with him.

A long time later it came to Lioness. None told her how. Normally she wasn´t allowed to wear it. But one night two dark clothed man came to their house and gave the necklace to her mother. She gave it to Lioness with the duty to bring it to the new dragon warrior, because the old one died or so. She didn´t remember everything very well, it had been some years ago.

Lioness closed her eyes for some seconds. Then she decided to tell Axel about his duty. She knew she would find him in the library. Quietly she opened the large door and stepped into the huge, cold room. She didn´t find him on the third floor, so she went upstairs. As she saw him she hid behind a cupboard and watched how he took the next book, read some lines and put it away. Before he took the next one he stared out of the window, closed his eyes for some moments and took a deep breath in.

She could have watched him the whole day. How he read the texts with his clear, lightblue eyes, how the sun threw her light on his darkbrown hair so that it shimmered a little. He sighed as he closed the book he read at the moment and laid it on another small tower of books. Lioness saw the letters that were printed on the covers. There was one book covered with green leather. It said _Dragon´s anatomy_. The one under it said _Legends and Stories of Dragons_ and so on.

Lioness took a last, deep breath in and stepped out of the cupboard´s shadow. Then she walked over to the table and stood right in front of Axel. He didn´t look up and read absent-minded in a book that was covered with darkblue leather. _History of Dragons_, said the golden letters on it.

"I never knew you are interested in dragons", she began and looked at the books.

"What do you want?", he asked coldly and didn´t look up.

Lioness sat down on the table and looked at him. "I wanted to tell you the truth", she said.

"Let me guess, the truth you want to tell me is a lie to win my trust back", he replied and turned to the next page. His voice shook a little, but she didn´t notice it. His face was serious and he didn´t pay attention to her.

"No, this time it is the truth."

"_This time_? So you lied at me before! The whole time you lied and betrayed me and I was just a silly fool for you who didn´t get through!" Now he looked at her with a hateful look. He closed the book angryly and stood up very quickly.

"Wait! It´s not-"

"Of course, I don´t understand what you´re meaning. That´s what you want to tell me, right? But that´s over now. Your time is over, and ours is it, too. Forget it, I´ll go!", he shouted and left the library as fast as he could. Lioness heard how he shut the door. She winced a little at that noise. She stood up and sighed. He would never listen to her. His trust in her was totally gone. Destroyed by a silly misunderstanding.

Slowly she walked out of the library. In her room she leaned with her back against a wall and fell slowly on the ground. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Lioness stared out of the window and the sun seemed to laugh at her in malicious glee.

Axel shut his door loudly and opened the drawer. He found a bag and threw it on the bed. Quickly he packed all his things, something to eat and three or four books about legends of dragons into the bag. His heart beat very fast and he was so furious that he couldn´t think very clear. He took his sword that stood in the corner of his room. As he was ready he threw the bag over his shoulder, went out of his room, downstairs and into the inner ward.

On his way to the stablings he met King, Hawk and Shark. He didn´t look at them and walked straight to the stablings as fast as he could. He didn´t ran. The three guys looked at him with confusion.

"Are you going on a trip?", asked Hawk. He didn´t answer. The three young man followed him quickly. In the stabling Axel went to his horse, saddled it and put his bag on its back. He put the scabbard of his sword on to his back.

"What are you going to do?", asked King worried.

"I´m going to leave this place...forever", he replied and sat on his horse. As he wanted to leave King stood in his way.

"Why?", he asked and looked at his best friend.

"I have my reasons. Now go out of the way."

"You´re going nowhere", said King serious.

"No, I´m not going. My horse is going. Now get out of the way!"

"Or what?" King provocated him.

"I don´t want to fight with you, so...goodbye!" Axel turned his horse around and rode towards the door to the throne room. Then he made a sharp curve and galopped towards King. In the last moment he could jump out of the way and Axel rode through the gate and was gone.

"Shit!", cursed King. "What can we do now?", asked Hawk.

"I guess nothing, dudes. Maybe he comes back in one or two days", guessed Shark.

"I think so, too. Somehow he is mad at Lioness. I´ve never seen him that furious..." King shook his head and walked with the others back into the castle. Lioness had watched them through her window. She couldn´t believe he really left. Sad and tired she laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Everything in her life just got worse...

**Thanks for your nice reviews!!! Please don´t forget to review this time ;-)**

**You guys are really cool:P**


	26. Teatime

Tea-time

Axel rode aimless into the east. The fresh wind blew through his hair and the sun stood high at the sky and shined very warm. The green grass beneath him passed very fast and he didn´t make a break. He just wanted to get away. Away from her. While he rode his way a pair of green-golden eyes followed him. He felt some tears in his eyes as he thought of Lioness. Never he had loved a girl that much like her. And now? He ran away because she betrayed him, because she used his trust. _Love makes blind_ said an old saying. And it was right.

As the sun setted behind him and his shadow became longer he decided to sleep in the forest he was in. He found a small clearing and tied his horse to a tree. Then he made a small fire and sat down on the soft soil. The moon stood high at the sky after the sun had setted and the stars appeared. The leaves of the trees rustled in the warm wind and an owl hooted.

This night he couldn´t sleep very well. He didn´t know where to go or what to do. He laid on his back and crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the sky. The clouds became bigger and the moon hid behind them. He hoped it wouldn´t rain. But minutes later suddenly a thunder resounded and it began to rain. First not much, but then it rained as if someone put the whole water of the world into these clouds over Axel. Quickly he hid under a tree and tried not to get wet. But within minutes his clothes, hair and skin were as wet as if he had swum.

With a sigh he sat down on the ground and leaned his back against the tree while the cold water ran down his face. The fire was put out and the raindrops pattered on the ground very hard. The temperature became colder and Axel could see his breath which left small clouds in the air. Shaking he wrapped his wet, heavy and cold blanket around his shoulders and pulled his knees up to his chest. Then he wrapped his arms around them and tried to reheat.

Lioness was awake the whole night. Thunder growled through the night like a big and hungry monster and lightnings flashed very often. She laid in her bed and stared at the ceiling, the necklace laid on her chest. What should she do? If she followed him he wouldn´t listen to her. That was sure. But she couldn´t let him go. Where could he have gone to? She had seen him riding to the east, there laid the town he had been some days ago. If he would rest there for a day she could find him and bring him back, even if he hated her.

Quickly she stood up and got dressed. She put the necklace on, too, and hid it under her shirt. Now she wore black pants and a darkbrown shirt. Her hair was in a ponytail. Then she ran down the stairs and towards the stablings. She saddled her horse as fast as she could and sat on it. Seconds later she rode into the cold night and through the rain. Her clothes and hair were wet within seconds, but she didn´t matter. The only thing she cared about was finding Axel.

Her horse couldn´t run very fast on the wet and soft ground. Mud splashed under the hooves of the horse away and flew high into the air. Thunder growled very loud and lightnings spent Lioness light on her way, even though her surroundings were lit for not even a second she knew the way and told her horse to run faster. Beside rain she felt sweat on her skin and she breathed heavily. Her horse breathed heavier than her, but didn´t turn slowlier. It was afraid of the thunder and the lightnings, so it ran a little faster than before.

She rode through the whole night without a break. Shortly after sunrise she arrived at the town. She rode through the gate and tied her horse next to some other horses that stood next to the gate. Then she went through the town. It was very early, but the streets and lanes were full of people. It was market day. _The perfect day if you want to find someone_, thought Lioness sarcastically as she tried to come through the crowds of people.

Lioness knew that this town had four bars where you could sleep, too. She walked to the first one and asked the man behind the counter if he had seen a young man, a little taller than herself with blue eyes and darkbrown hair. The man shook his head. Disappointed Lioness searched the next one. But wherever she went, she always got the same answer. None had seen a young man with blue eyes.

Sad and disappointed she walked through the town. Maybe she saw Axel somewhere. To get away from the crowd of people she turned right and walked through a small lane. The sky was very cloudy and the sun didn´t shine, but in the lane it was darker than on the streets. The houses stood that close to each other that just a little light fell into the lane.

"You´re in search of someone", said a voice behind her. Lioness whirled around. There stood an old, small woman with long, white hair and pale skin. She had a wooden stick in her right hand and was clothed with a black robe. She couldn´t see her eyes clearly.

"Why do you know that?", asked Lioness distrustful.

"It happens not often that a young and beautiful lady like you walks through a dark, dirty and small lane like this one", smiled the old woman. She had a symphatically smile, even though her voice sounded a little raspy.

"You´re right, I´m in search of a young man, a little taller than me. He has darkbrown hair and clear blue eyes", explained Lioness. The womans eyes widened a little.

"Maybe I can help you", she said thoughtfully.

"You have seen him?" Lioness sounded a little happier. The woman looked around to the street that was full of people. Than she looked up to the sky and to her left and to her right. "I´ll tell you what I know, but not here", she whispered and walked past Lioness. "Follow me."

First Lioness hesitated, but then she followed the old woman. Even though she looked as if she was over a hundred years old she walked very fast. She led Lioness through the small lane that was longer than she had thought. One time she turned right, another time left and then right again. This way they finally arrived at a small house that stood between two big ones. It had no door, but a darkred and haggled curtain. The woman stepped in, Lioness followed her.

The roof was full of holes. Three or four candles stood on a table in one corner of the small room. The whole house was just one room. There were two chairs, the table in the corner, a bed in another corner and cupboard full of books, bottles with herbs and essences and bowls in different sizes. A heavy smell of burned herbs laid in the thick air.

The woman told Lioness to sit down on one chair while she sat down on the other one. "Tea?", she asked friendly and put some tea in a cup on the table. Lioness shook her head. The thick air made her tired, but she tried to stay awake.

"Do you know where he is?", she asked finally as the woman drank some tea. She looked up at her.

"First tell me who he really is. He is the chosen one of the dragon, isn´t he?" The woman looked with her nearly white eyes at Lioness.

"Why do you know this?"

"I´m not stupid. He was here in town some days ago and went into this lane, just like you. I read his future out of his hand and saw he had a special future that wasn´t normal. I recognized him, the lines on his hands told me everything I needed to know", she replied slowly and drank some tea.

"You can read the future out of hands? Isn´t it just a trick?", she asked confused.

The woman smiled. "No, it isn´t. Everyone has a special talent. Yours for example that you´re a very great singer. Mine is it, that I know everything about the past of a person I touched. And so I can guess a little of his or her future", smirked the woman.

Lioness was confused. This woman knew a lot, about the dragon warrior and about Axel, too.

"Where is he?", she asked.

"Hmmm...He is a young man who feels betrayed by a person he loved. Imagine you are him. Where would you go?"

"Don´t know", replied Lioness and looked at the table. It was very old.

"You should know that something evil lays in the air, I can feel that. The battle is not far away. And I was too shocked to tell him about it...my mistake. This battle is very important and will cost him all his powers.You should better find him before it´s too late", told the old woman.

"What do you mean? Too late for what?"

"Think a little. He´s the guardian of the dragon, he has the necklace. Some people will hunt him for the pendant. And if they found him...don´t try to imagine that. The cruelst people wants to have the necklace and it would be better for him if he wasn´t alone."

Quickly Lioness stood up. "But he isn´t wearing the necklace, I have it!"

The womans eyes widened. "Then he doesn´t have the powers of the dragon with him...With this powers his Jo-Lan will be stronger and it makes him able to defeat even hard enemys. But I don´t really know how big his skills are, so let´s hope the best...You should go now and find him. If you need help, ask me. Come into this lane and whisper my name, then I´ll come."

Lioness headed for the exit, but stopped in front of the curtain. "What´s your name?", she asked and looked at the smiling, old woman.

"Theresia", she smirked. "Go now, young Catalina, and find the young dragon warrior. His destiny lays in your hands...or should I better say: It´s around your neck?"

Lioness smiled at the old woman before she left. But suddenly she turned around and came into the small house again. "I wanted to know why-" The woman was gone. None was in the house. "...you know my name", she finished her sentence slowly. Then she shook her head and ran out of the lane, towards her horse. She sat on it and rode through the gate with the confused looks of the guards in her back.

**Will Lioness find Axel? Will he finally listen to her and her explanations? Or will he walk away, far, very far away and never come back? Wait until I can update the next chapter to find out what will happen!!!**

**Please review! ;-)**


	27. Meeting in the middle of nowhere

Meeting in the middle of nowhere

Axel woke up shortly after sunrise. Every part of his body felt cold and frozen. The rain had stopped, but fog was everywhere and he couldn´t see very far. Tired he struggled to stand up, took his wet and heavy blanket and laid it behind his saddle on the back of his horse. The sky was very cloudy and everything seemed to be grey. With a yawn he sat on the back of his horse and slowly he rode through the endless grey of the fog, into the middle of nowhere.

He came just very slowly through the soft and muddy soil and because of the slowly movements of his horse he nearly fell asleep. He felt tired, sick and so...empty. He didn´t want to believe it, but he missed Lioness. In his mind he saw her smiling face, her wonderful green-golden eyes and her soft, brown hair. But she was the reason why he ran away. She was the reason why he was wet and cold now, why he was tired and sick and...totally in love.

He wanted to hate her for that she had betrayed him and lied at him. Axel didn´t want to be a human anymore, because they could feel feelings that just made him sick now. But he was still a human and had feelings for her. Deeply in his heart he was still in love, but on his surface he looked sick and very tired.

Axel yawned a long time and tried to stay awake. The air was cold and full of fog and the rain had made the soil wet. He couldn´t move his hands very well, because he felt very cold, but he continued riding the whole day.

Nearly at the evening the fog was gone and he was happy to see anything of his surroundings. Tired he laid his head on the neck of his horse and closed his eyes. Just for some time, he thought and yawned. He had never felt that tired. But seconds later he fell asleep.

Alarmed he sat up and looked around. Now he was awake. He had heard a noise. Around him were high trees, green bushs and his horse was walking on a muddy path. But he didn´t know where he was. This forest seemed to be endless. As he heard this noise again, he whirled around. Nothing. Concentrated he looked around, but saw nothing. There was something wrong, he felt that. And his horse did, too. It was a little nervous and snuffled quietly.

The forest ended and the trees disappeared slowly as Axel rode on a dry path. He had waited for exactly this moment. Quickly he told his horse to galopp. It ran as fast as it could, breathed heavily and they left the forest behind. Now he rode over a green and large meadow. At the horizon were some hills and sometimes he could see some trees standing alone in the meadow.

Here he felt a little more safe because he could see everything that was around him. Axel took a deep breath in and looked at the setting sun. The sky turned red and orange. Most of the clouds had disappeared this day and now just a few of them were at the sky. Because he was tired Axel decided to camp under a small tree. He tied his horse to it, so it could eat something. Then he lit some dry wood and made a small fire. A branch was next to the fire, so Axel laid his still wet and cold blanket over it to dry it.

After he sat down in the soft grass he leaned with his back against the tree. He ate something and enjoyed the heat of the fire that reheated him. The flames licked at the dry wood and danced wildly and hungry. As Axel threw a twig into the flames some sparks rose up into the sky and disappeared in the thin smoke. Axel thought of any place to go. But where? He had no family, no relatives, no other friends. He was alone.

He closed his eyes in sadness as he heard the noise again. It was like rustling leaves. A leaf from the tree over his head fell slowly on the ground. Quickly he looked up to see a pair of yellow eyes. At once Axel stood up and went into fighting position.

"Okay, who are you and why are you following me? Come out!", he said and stared at the yellow eyes.

Suddenly they disappeared for a second. A moment later a ninja jumped out of the tree and landed on the ground in front of Axel. The campfire was between the two. Axel recognized the ninja as the dragon-ninja, Lioness´ _master_. Now he stood in front of him and looked at him in silence.

"You´re Dragon, right?" Axel looked at the ninja who just nodded. "So what are you doing here?" His face turned serious. He still looked into the yellow slits in the ninjas mask.

"I want to talk to you", he replied shortly. "Sit down, it´s a long story." Dragon sat down where he stood and looked at Axel. After a short moment of hesitation he sat down, too. There was a long moment of silence now. None said any word. Dragon stared into the flames of the fire, Axel stared at Dragon in distrust.

"You hate her for no reason", began the ninja and looked up at Axel.

"I have my reason. She lied at me and used my trust", he replied simply.

"That´s what you´re thinking. But it´s not the truth", said Dragon.

"Let me guess, _you_ told Lioness to get the necklace, so everything is _your_ fault." Axel tried not to sound to angry. His face turned more serious.

"I´ll tell you the explanation of this misunderstanding-"

"Yes, of course, it´s just a misunderstanding. Do you know something? I don´t want to hear your silly explanations!" Axel stood up. The ninja did, too. He looked at Axel and seemed to lose his patience. He was getting angry.

"Your behavior is not the way of Jo-Lan! And what you´re doing is not what your father had taught you! Now I´m wondering how you could defeat the ninjas! Forget it, I´ll go. You followed the wrong path and left the path of Jo-Lan. Your father would be disappointed..." With this words Dragon turned around to leave. After he took a few steps Axel called him back,

"Wait! I´m sorry...Did you know my father?"

"Yes, very well", answered the ninja and turned his face to Axel again. "I´ll tell you something of him if you promise to listen to me until I finished", said Dragon and looked at Axel. He nodded. He would do everything to get to know more about his father.

They sat down in opposite to each other.

"You should know that your girlfriend-"

"She isn´t my girlfriend", interrupted Axel with a serious face.

"Okay, then Lioness. It would be very kind of you if you just would listen." Axel blushed a little and didn´t know why. Somehow he respected the dragon-ninja in front of him.

"You should know that Lioness just got the order to protect you. I talked to her shortly after the battle and after I have seen what had happened. Respect, you´re the first one who used the full power of the dragons. I never knew anyone who did that before." He paused shortly.

"Do you know the story of the necklace? Well, the necklace is unimportant, it´s just its pendant, the dragon. Do you know the story of the first dragon warrior who used the powers of the dragons to defeat the evil?"

Axel nodded. "Yes, and after he won he put the power of the evil Jo-Lan warrior into the pendant."

"That´s right. Every 2000 years there is a special constellation of stars. You can use the power of the dragons, that is in the pendant, to rule the whole world. If you are evil. It has always been the duty of the dragon-warriors to protect the pendant and to make sure it couldn´t get into the hands of someone with evil intentions. And this duty is yours now. The 2000 years are over this year, in about three months. So be ready to fight hardly to protect the dragon. Your life and the life of everyone else is in a huge danger."

"And what´s Lioness part in this game?", asked Axel.

"She had to protect _you_, and you have to protect the necklace, just like I said. Every evening she told me that none had tried to get the necklace. That´s why she had been away very often", explained Dragon.

"But what´s with your ninjas? Why did they want to get the necklace?"

"It was a test. I wanted to know if you are strong enough to protect the dragon, even if a hundred man would attack you."

"What do you know about these latin words..._filium draconem_ or _custodum draconem_? What does it exactly mean?", asked Axel curiously. He didn´t want to sound too curious, but he did.

"Ah, yes, the son of the dragon or the guardian of the dragon. That are just other names for the dragon warrior. A long time ago people thought the dragon warriors were children of the dragons they were protecting. Of course it´s just a story and it isn´t true. But if you are the chosen one you share your soul with the soul of a dragon and in your blood is the blood of a dragon, too. Don´t worry. It´s no real dragon. It´s the spirit of Jo-Lan. You know that Jo-Lan warriors fight mostly with their mind and not with their body. The pendant makes your Jo-Lan powers stronger if you are its protector, but with enough training and some time you will be strong enough, even without the necklace. But at the moment it is important that you always wear it", explained Dragon.

"Well...I don´t have it at the moment...", Axel said slowly.

"What?! She didn´t gave it back to you? That´s a problem...but don´t tell anyone of it. Maybe they would attack her, not you..."

"You mean the evil guys?"

"Yes. You should go back as fast as you can and search her. Now", said the ninja and stood up.

"But what about my father? You wanted to tell me about him", asked Axel.

"Not now, we have no time! I´ll meet you in two days at the castle when the sun is setting." "How can I find you?"

"Don´t worry. I´ll find _you_", said Dragon and threw something on the ground. Smoke rose up into the air and the ninja disappeared in it. As the smoke was gone, Dragon was it, too.

Quickly Axel took his blanket, put out the fire and made everything ready. Then he sat on his horse and rode back towards the castle. He felt a little better now. If it was true what Dragon had told him, he had hated her for no reason. The most important thing was to find her, because she could be in a big danger just because he hadn´t wanted to listen to her. As fast as he could he rode towards the castle and hoped he could say sorry to her before it was too late.

**Please don´t forget to review! I know it´s sometimes a little complicated...I didn´t got through at the beginning of this chapter and had to read the other chapters before to remember what had happened so far . Well, I hope you don´t have the same problems like me and I hope you got through all of this explanations. LoL...**

**Review!!!**


	28. What to do?

What to do?

Shark, King and Hawk sat in Shark´s room. Shark laid on his bed, his arms crossed behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Hawk leaned against a wall and King sat on a chair that stood next to the door. Nearly a day ago they had noticed Lioness was gone. She had left a note for them. _I´ll go and try to find Axel. I don´t know when I´ll be back, but please don´t follow me._

"Okay, what shall we do now?", asked Hawk and looked first at Shark, then at King.

"Nothing. We just can wait", replied King.

"Axel is two days gone, Lioness nearly one. The rain may have washed their tracks away, so we can´t try to find them, dudes", said Shark.

"Remember her note, she doesn´t want us to follow her!", remembered Hawk.

"I don´t say this very often, but this guy is right. And moreover we don´t know where they are. We have to wait till Lioness has luck and finds him or till they come back in some time." King looked out of the window. The sun had setted minutes ago. Now some lonely clouds crossed the sky.

"Guys, I´m tired", mentioned Hawk and headed for the door. "We can´t do anything at the moment, so I´ll go to bed." He left the room. King followed him and went into his room, too. Tired he fell in his bed and moments later he fell asleep.

But suddenly, in the middle of the night, someone knocked at his door unpatiently and hardly. Alarmed he sat up in his bed, then he stood up and opened the door. He looked out. As he looked around he noticed Shark who came out of his room with a confused and tired face. Hawk came out of his room, too. On his left eye was still a piece of a cucumber.

"What´s up, dudes?", asked Shark yawning.

Then they heard a loud noise. It came from Lioness room. The three guys switched confused looks, then they sneaked over to her room and looked curiously through the half open door. In the light of a torch they saw Lioness. She hurried threw her room, from her cupboard to her bed and to her drawer. She packed a bag.

"Hey, you´re back! Where´s Axel?", asked King.

Lioness just looked at him shortly. "We have no time! Pack your things, we must go and find him, he´s in a big danger", she said quickly. As the guys didn´t move she stopped in front of them and looked at everyone. "Hurry up! Every second is counting! No time for explanations", she said and whirled around to continue packing her bag that laid on her bed.

Now King, Shark and Hawk moved. They hurried to their room just to do what Lioness did: To pack their bags. Minutes later they were ready and walked to the stablings. Lioness nearly ran.

"You could explain everything while we´re saddling our horses", suggested Hawk. Lioness nodded and told them what happened while they saddled their horses quickly. She told them everything about the necklace, its story, the old woman and why Axel could be in danger now.

"That´s why we have not much time, without the necklace I don´t know if he´s strong enough", she said as they sat on their horses.

"Don´t worry. He´ll defeat everyone, even without the necklace. He´s very strong", said King and tried to calm her down.

"Even if a hundred ugly creatures attack him?" She looked at King. All what he could say was, "Oh."

They rode into the east. The sun rose in front of them. The sky was colored in orange and yellow colors and the wind was warm. This was supposed to be a warm day.

"Err...does anyone know where we are riding to? We don´t know where he his!" Shouted Hawk against the hard blowing wind.

None answered. And none knew where he was. But they just rode into the east, that was the only direction they knew. They rode as fast as they could until they reached a forest. The soil was muddy and very soft, so they had to ride very slowly. The whole day they were in this nearly endless forest. The sun setted and fog appeared. They didn´t know where to go, they saw nothing.

"Hey, do you smell that?", asked Lioness. The smell of smoke laid in the air. The others nodded and followed the smell. Some moments later they found a campfire, but it was put out. Some smoke still rose into the air. Shark got a closer look to it. "Hmmm...maybe two days old. The rain from yesterday night had put it out, I guess. The ash is still wet, dudes", he stated.

"Then he could be anywhere", said King and sighed. He jumped from his horse and landed on the ground. "We should make a break here, the horses are really tired...and we are, too", he said.

Lioness wanted them to continue their search, but they were all too tired. She gave up arguing with them and sat on the ground while the others made a small fire. She stood up and went into the forest to collect some wood for the fire. She couldn´t see very much because of the fog, but she continued walking through the forest.

Five minutes later she started picking up some dry wood. As she picked up a small branch she suddenly heard a noise behind her and whirled around. Someone stood behind her.

"Hey, Lioness", said a voice. It sounded like Axel´s.

"Axel?", she asked the dark shadow. Because of the darkness and the fog she just could see the contour of the man in front of her. But she saw he nodded.

"I wanted to say sorry to you", he replied.

Lioness was that happy to see him again that she hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her body and hugged her back. She lifted her head to kiss him, but as their lips touched she suddenly pushed him away. Something was wrong with him. His lips felt different...like the skin of a snake. She tried to see his face, but it was too dark.

"What´s up?", he asked and did as if everything was alright.

Lioness got distrustful. He was different, and not just because of his skin. His voice was the same, but he spoke differently.

"Let´s go back to the others", she said and walked past him, back towards the place where the others were. But suddenly he grabbed her arm hardly. She tried to get free, but somehow he was too strong for her.

"Let me go!"

"No, I just want to spend some more time with you", he hissed. Lioness got scared. "What do you want?", she asked.

"You and...thisssss." He pointed at the necklace she wore. Lioness tried to look into his eyes. His voice sounded like a hissing snake.

"Okay, but first...you have to catch me!" With this she kicked into his stomach. He hissed because of surprise and a little because of the pain and weakened his grip around her arm a little. Lioness kicked him a second time, into his chest, so he fell a few steps back. Then she ran back to the fire. Behind her she heard a hissing sound and a shout. She ran faster.

Her heart beat very fast and she breathed hardly as she reached the small clearing where the three boys were. "We have to get away from here!", she gasped.

"What´s up?", asked King as he stood up.

"Something´s wrong with Axel...if he is Axel. His skin feels like the skin of a snake and his voice is so different", she explained. "He wanted to have the necklace and grabbed my arm hardly. He isn´t himself."

"Are you sure?", asked Hawk. "I mean the thing with the skin of a snake. Are you sure he just didn´t forget to have a shave?" He grinned a little.

"Of course I´m sure! He-"

Suddenly a noise was behind them and they all turned around. There stood someone with green and scaly skin, red or nearly orange hair. His eyes were red and he looked at the four friends.

"That wasn´t very friendly to run away, Lioness", he said. His voice sounded like Axel´s. And he looked a little bit like him, even if he had green skin, red hair and red eyes.

"Who or what are you?", asked King distrustful.

"I´m the first one of a new species. And if you meet your friend Axel Manning again, tell him I´m very thankfully to have his skills", smirked the creature. "But I guess you won´t have the chance to tell him."

He attacked the four teens. He opened his mouth and spat a venom. It came out of his sharp teeth. The green venom Hawk´s legs and arms. "What the hell-? I can´t move my arms!", he screamed and fell on the ground, unable to move. The creature smirked. Then he attacked King with a hard kick. He was surprised of the power in this kick and fell some steps backwards. Meanwhile Lioness tried to kick him, but he blocked and avoided her attacks, grabbed her leg and threw her against a tree. She fell on to her knees.

Shark and King tried to attack the creature together, but he spat his venom and the two couldn´t move. "Okay, that´s totally unfair, dudes", said Shark and tried to move his arms.

Slowly the creature walked over to Lioness. Her back was aching and she breathed hardly as she struggled to stand up. Then she attacked the grinning guy in front of her with a kick. He blocked it easily. "Aww, is that all you got?", he asked sarcastically. She tried to punch him and kicked him, but he blocked every attack. Her friends laid on the ground, unable to move, and watched how she tried to defeat this creature.

After another weak attack he grabbed her arm and pulled her tight to his body. Then he took the necklace, tore it and held the pendant in his hand. "Thanksss a lot", he hissed and pushed her against a tree. Weakly she fell on her knees. Sweat was on her forehead and she breathed hardly. Each part of her body was aching. She looked up at the smiling _thing_ in front of her. He was about to leave.

But suddenly someone appeared out of nowhere, kicked the creature hardly and sent him against a tree with a lightblue blast. Then he knelt down next to Lioness and looked into her eyes.

"So you came back", she tried to smile.

"What would you do if you left the only one you love?", smiled Axel and helped her to stand up.

But Lioness was too weak. The fight had cost her all her energy. She collapsed in his arms and passed out. The last things she saw were that the creature disappeared in the darkness of the forest and that Axels clear blue eyes looked worried into hers.

**Do you know who this creature is? I think yes, if you saw the second season...please review!!!**


	29. A new discovery

A new discovery

"Lioness? Lioness! Wake up!" Lioness opened her eyes. She laid in a bed, next to her bed sat Axel. He smiled a little as she woke up. Lioness sat up in her bed and looked around. Now she recognized that she was in her own room. The sun shined through the windows.

"What happened?", she asked and tried not to notice her headache.

"You passed out shortly after this creature disappeared. We brought you back to the castle after the guys were able to move again. You slept a long time."

"Oh no! He has the necklace!" Suddenly she was awake. Axel started smiling.

"Do you mean this one?", he asked and showed her the pendant of the necklace. She looked at him in surprise. "But how...?"

"That was a little difficult. After you passed out I followed this guy. He was very strong and we fought hardly, but what he didn´t know was that he lost the pendant after I kicked him. As I noticed it laid on the ground I acted that I passed out. Then he disappeared and left the pendant. This guy can fight, but he´s a little too silly", he grinned.

There was a long moment of silence between them. "Lioness...I wanted to say sorry. I didn´t listen to you, that was a big mistake..." Axel avoided her look. She smiled a little. "And why did you come back?"

"Dragon told me what happened. So I came back and found you fighting with this creature", he said. Now she looked into his eyes. "And...I don´t hate you...I was just furious, so...", he paused. "I´m sorry."

Lioness just nodded. Then she stood up and got dressed. "How long did I sleep?", she asked.

"Nearly a day", he replied and watched her getting dressed. "Did I ever mention you´re looking very beautiful?", he asked and stood up. Lioness shrugged her shoulders as she combed her hair. It shimmered in the bright light of the sun. "Well, then I did it now", he smiled and walked over to the window. He opened it and let the fresh air in. He leaned his arms on the frame and watched some clouds passing by.

Lioness came over to him and leaned her arms on the frame, too. "What are we going to do now?", she asked.

"I don´t know...we have to wait till he comes back", replied Axel. He looked at Lioness who stared at the new built houses around the castle. Some of them were finished, some others still built their new home. A lot of people were there. He watched her green-golden eyes staring at one house.

"Do you know something? Hating you had been terrible for me. I couldn´t do it...The only thing I could think of was you..." Axel was very happy that Lioness had forgive him. He felt a lot better now and just enjoyed that she was around him. He liked it how his heart beat faster every time he saw her. Slowly he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his body. She looked into his eyes.

Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her head to kiss him. He felt that his heart beat faster. He felt this comfortable prickle in his belly and smiled a little. But before they could kiss someone knocked at the door. Hawk came in.

"Sorry to disturb you, guys, but King sent me. He says it is important. I guess you won´t like it", he said and looked at the two.

"Then let´s go", said Axel and he and Lioness followed Hawk.

Hawk led them out of the castle. They went through the gate and turned left, towards one lonely tree on the meadow. They saw King who knelt down and looked at something on the ground. He noticed them coming and stood up. "Nice to see you. How do you feel, Lioness?", he asked with a smile.

"Better", she replied. "What is so important?"

"Well, have a look at this", said King and pointed at a track in the soft soil under the tree. They all knelt down to get a closer look to it. "Hmmm...looks like the track of an animal", guessed Lioness.

"But it´s a little bit too big for the animals I know", said Axel. The footprint was as big as Lioness´ hand.

"What do you think could it be?", asked Hawk and looked at King.

"It´s too big for the animals that are living here, Axel is right." King thought some moments. "But this track is not the only thing I wanted to show you. Here, do you see that?", he asked, stood up and pointed at four long, deep scratches in the tree. The others stood up, too, and didn´t believe their eyes.

"Wow, who did this?", asked Axel and touched the scratches carefully.

"I think the question is: _What_ did this", corrected Lioness. She got a closer look to the scratches and touched them. "Hmmm...okay, I´m confused."

"Maybe it was this creature we met in the forest?", guessed Hawk.

"I don´t think he has that long claws you need to do something like this", replied King. They were all guessing and thinking what or who could have done this as they heard a voice behind them.

"Dudes, come over here! I found something!" It was Shark. He stood in the middle of the large meadow, nearly a hundred metres away from his friends and waved his arm. They ran over to him.

"Here, I found this", he said as his friends arrived. There were some more tracks in the soil, like the one under the tree.

"They´re not very old, that´s sure. Maybe ten or fifteen hours", said King. "The one under the tree is a little older, but just two hours."

"I don´t want to know why you know this, dude." Shark looked at King surprised and a little confused. He just shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, all in all we can say it´s an animal like creature with long and sharp claws. Oh, and it´s at least as big as a human being. Something else we can say about this thing?", asked Axel and looked at everyone.

Then he looked at the setting sun. Suddenly he remembered Dragon wanted to meet him today. Two days have passed and everyday Axel expected their meeting with happyness. The clouds were colored red, orange and yellow, the sun disappeared slowly behind a hill in the west. Some stars appeared in the east where no sunlight was. Axel turned around to leave.

"Sorry, I have to go now. See you later!", he said and ran back to the castle. The others looked first at him, then at each other. The looks of the three guys stopped at Lioness. "What?", she asked confused as they looked at her.

"What is he going to do?", asked Hawk curious.

"Why should I know that? Ask him on yourself!"

"Are you still angry at each other? If not, you should know what he´s going to do, dude", said Shark.

"No, we´re not mad at each other. But this is no reason why I should know what he´s doing", she replied and turned to go, too.

"Maybe he has another girlfriend and you don´t know about it?", guessed Hawk jokingly. King hissed something to him. Lioness stopped, but didn´t turn around. She didn´t look at the three guys behind her.

"You´re not serious, are you?", she asked and left.

"This wasn´t funny, Hawk", said King and looked at his friend angry.

"Why not? It was just a joke, nothing with a serious meaning!"

"Listen, some days ago they hated each other and now I don´t know if it was true what she told us. Maybe they´re still arguing because of something. You make everything worse", replied King.

"Dudes, calm down. I think they forgave each other. And now we are starting to argue! Well...not me, but you two. That´s the problem with five persons: One person is always left if the rest is arguing...and now it´s me! Do you know something, guys? I´ll go to the feast in the new built village now-"

"Which feast?", asked King.

"Don´t know it really. Someone became a hundred years old and wants to celebrate it tonight. Everyone is invited...and some nice girls, too, I guess", he grinned and walked towards the village. Hawk followed him running.

"Hey, wait for me!", he shouted. King rolled his eyes and walked back to the castle.

**Thanks for reading and review!!!**


	30. Dragon

Dragon

Axel started walking slowlier as he went through the gate. He didn´t know where to go. Dragon had told him he wanted to find him. So Axel just shrugged his shoulders and went into his room. There he opened the window and saw that the sun setted. The sky turned darker and some stars were at the sky. He leaned his arms on the window frame and looked at the new village. There was a big feast this night, because someone celebrated his birthday.

A big fire was on a place some metres away from the houses. A lot of people were dancing, singing and eating there, they laughed very loud. It was funny to watch them. Suddenly something flew past Axel´s head and bored into the wall very close to his head. Surprised and a little shocked he looked at the thing. It was a shuriken, a star made up of metal. Ninjas often use it in fights. A note was wrapped around it.

Axel took the piece of paper. On the note stood that he should make sure he was alone. It was signed by Dragon. Axel leaned out of the window and looked around, but he saw none. At that moment he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw the ninja standing in his room with crossed arms, looking at him.

"So you found her", he said after a moment of silence. Axel nodded.

"I have a question. Do you know anything about a guy with green skin like a snake and red hair? I guess he´s more a reptile than a human being", asked Axel and looked at Dragon.

But he shook his head. "No, I´ve never seen something like you´re describing. Did he want to have the necklace?"

"Yes, he attacked Lioness to get it, but I found her just in time."

"That shows that the evil powers are doing everything to get it. So be careful and always remember what your father had taught you. With the powers of the necklace you could be strong enough", explained the dragon-ninja.

"Can you tell me anything about my father?", asked Axel after another moment of silence. "I mean if you knew him and what he did before he died. He was very often away and left me alone."

Dragon thought for a moment. "Is he really dead?", he suddenly asked.

"Of course, why are you asking?" Axel looked at the ninja with a little distrust.

"Have you seen him dieing?", he asked and didn´t answer Axel´s question.

"No, not really. He told me to run away, so I did it. As I was far away I saw the village was burning and thick smoke rose into the air. He didn´t came to the place where we wanted to meet", replied Axel and looked out of the window. He remembered the day very well. Some tears came into his eyes, but he stayed serious and controlled his feelings. He didn´t want to cry. Not in front of the ninja. So he swallowed shortly and looked at Dragon.

The ninja said nothing and looked away. He seemed to be in thoughts. "Do you mean he could have survived? What happened to him? Tell me the truth", said Axel sad and angry. That the ninja said nothing made him angry.

Dragon sighed. "My master sent someone to kill your father. That Paine arrived at the same moment was just a silly chance. Your father was an honorable Jo-Lan warrior and it´s a shame that he died, but unfortunately he was in the way. He knew something that none should know." The dragon-ninja looked out of the window. A warm breeze came in.

First Axel couldn´t believe what he heard. Then rage and sadness came up in him and he tried to hold his tears back. "So you´re working for the man who killed him?! It wasn´t Paine´s fault, it´s all yours and your masters!", he shouted. "What did my father know?" He went into fighting position. There was a hate for the ninja in front of him, a hate that became bigger with each second.

Suddenly Axel attacked Dragon. He wanted to get vengeance for the death of his father. And now he knew that it wasn´t Paine´s fault. The master of the ninja had killed his father. _Master_. So Dragon maybe knew something about why his father was killed and who it did.

With a kick Axel tried to hit Dragon, but he blocked. All of the attacks he started were blocked and as Dragon tried to kick Axel he blocked, too. Axel used his Jo-Lan and tried to blast him away, but the ninja did the same. The energy waves crashed into each other and threw the two Jo-Lan warriors back. Both landed on their feet again. With a flip Dragon landed behind Axel and threw him hardly on the ground. But with a role backwards Axel stood on his feet again and kicked Dragon.

This way they fought the whole time. Sometimes Dragon hit Axel and threw him against the wall (or the cupboard that stood in one corner of the room. Let me just say: It was just a small hill of wooden splinters after some time). And Axel kicked Dragon so that he fell on the ground. But none could defeat the other one.

Suddenly, as they were in the middle of their fight, someone knocked at the door. Dragon looked at Axel. "We´ll meet us again", he said simply and jumped out of the window. Axel ran to the window and looked out of it, but the ninja was gone. It knocked again. "I´m coming!", growled Axel and opened the door. Lioness and King stood in front of him.

"Are we disturbing you?", asked King. Axel shook his head. "What´s up?", he asked.

"We just wanted to know if you want to come with us to the feast in the village. Everyone is there", replied Lioness.

Axel glanced one last time at the open window and hoped to see Dragon. But he wasn´t there. Then he looked at Lioness. "Are you alright?", she asked and noticed his look.

"No, everything´s okay. Let´s go", he replied and closed the door behind him. Then they walked to the village and were surprised how many people were there. A lot of them sat around the giantic campfire, some others danced around it and laughed a lot. The men talked, just like the women. Young teenage girls stood together in groups and talked.

As the three walked past such a group the girls suddenly started giggling and looked at them. Lioness quickly took Axel´s arm and the girls looked away. "What was with them?", he asked Lioness confused.

"They´re worse than hungry vultures. I know such girls. If you walk with a cute guy past them they´re watching you jealous until their eyes nearly fall on the ground. I hate those girls who are too shy to talk to a guy they like", she rolled her eyes and growled a little.

"But we don´t like those girls who have nothing in their heads. Right, King?" Axel looked around, but he couldn´t see King. "Okay, where is he?", he asked Lioness and looked around.

Lioness grinned. "I guess _he _likes those girls", she said and pointed at King who stood next to a house with two girls. They talked and laughed a lot. Axel shrugged his shoulders. "If he wants."

The two sat down a little farther away from the other people on the meadow where the fire was. Far in front of them were the buildings of the new village. Six or seven metres away from the houses was the big fire. It was far enough away, so the roofs couldn´t start to burn if a spark landed on them. Around the fire sat or stood all the people and laughed, danced or sang.

Apart from Axel and Lioness. They sat down on the meadow so that the people in front of them were nearly fifteen metres away from them. Nevertheless they could feel the heat of the fire very well. But the voices of the people were far away and sounded like quiet whispers. The sky was starry and a full moon shined brightly. Behind the two laid the plains of Algiswar. They were very large and looked like an endless sea of grass.

"Why are we sitting here and not with the others at the fire?", asked Axel as he laid in the grass and crossed his arms behind his head. Lioness smiled and laid next to him. "I just wanted to be alone with you for some time", she smirked.

"So this is a trap, isn´t it?", he asked and smiled a little.

"You´re right." Lioness laid her head close to his and clung to his body. Her face came nearer to his and she kissed him on his cheek. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight to his body. His heart beat faster, a comfortable prickle went through his belly. After a long time he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes.

The moonlight was thrown on her soft brown hair so it shimmered silver. Her eyes looked deeply into his. Then she closed her eyes and kissed him slowly. He deepened the kiss and pulled her tight to his body. The warmth of her body felt good and he could feel her fast heartbeat. So many feelings of happyness went through him that he couldn´t describe them all. It just felt great. In the last days he had missed this feelings a lot and wasn´t able to forget them.

How could he forget the feeling he had when their lips touched, when they were close to each other, when they kissed passionately? Axel was sure that none who liked this feelings was able to forget them. They just felt too great to forget them. And he was happy because of that. Now Lioness kissed him and he closed his eyes to enjoy it. He forgot all his worries for this wonderful moment and thought just of her.

Then they broke the kiss and Axel laid on his back. Lioness laid close next to him, felt his fast heartbeat and saw him smiling in the silver moonlight. He stared at the stars above them. She followed his look. Far away she heard the laughs and voices of the people at the fire. But Axel didn´t seem to notice it. He turned his head to look at her and smiled.

"What´s up?", she asked jokingly as she noticed his smile.

"Do I need a reason to be happy when I´m with you?", he asked and laughed shortly. Lioness shook her head and sat up. He looked at her and still smiled a little. She laid her upper part of the body on his chest and kissed him. Her long brown hair fell on his face and tickled him a little. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. He felt that her heart beat faster as his hands went under her shirt.

**Do not forget to review!!! It´s important to me, then I know what I can do better the next time! And thanks for your great reviews, guys:P**


	31. More of them

More of them

_Some hours after the creature had attacked the four teens in the forest:_

"What do you mean you don´t have it?!"

The green-skinned guy with the red hair winced a little at that shout of his master. "I nearly had it, but HE appeared and was able to safe his little girlfriend and the others. Then he followed me and we fought. He passed out, so I disappeared as fast as I could. He must have stolen it, sssir", replied the creature.

The man growled something and turned his back to the guy. "Okay, Tilian, now listen. Wait a day and I can send her clone with you. Together you´ll be able to beat them. But be careful, they´re warned now. I´ll need some time to clone them all, it´s a difficult spell and costs me a lot of energy. But the most important thing is: Get the necklace!", ordered the master.

"Why is this thing that important to you?", asked Tilian confused.

"At the moment this is my little secret. Just do what I told you, then you´ll find out", answered the master and smirked a little.

_The day after the birthday party:_

Nearly at midday Axel stepped out of his room. He was still tired. With a yawn he walked down the corridor towards the kitchen to eat something. He didn´t remember anything of the last night, just that he went with King and Lioness to the feast. The rest was very fuzzy and unclear. As he walked into the kitchen he met King who grinned at him.

"Na, finally awake? Hope you had a nice night", he said and wanted to leave.

"Do you know what else happened yesterday?", asked Axel before his friend went out of the kitchen. King shrugged his shoulders and grinned a little.

"Why don´t you ask Lioness? I guess she rememberes what happened", he smirked and left.

Axel ate something and decided to search Lioness. As he knocked at her door none answered. He opened the door and saw she wasn´t there. So he went downstairs to the groundfloor. He saw Hawk in the inner ward. A mark stood at the wall of the inner ward and Hawk stood at other side of the inner ward. He shot and hit the mark perfectly into the middle.

"Hey, do you know where Lioness is?", he asked as Hawk took the next arrow. Hawk shook his head and rose his bow. Then he laid the arrow on it and strained the string. Axel walked past Hawk and went through the gate. A sound let him know that Hawk had hit the mark, again.

This day was sunny and warm. The April had started yet and the the last trees started to become green. Bees and butterflies flew around and from one flower to the next one. No single cloud was at the sky. Axel enjoyed the warm sun on his face and closed his eyes for a moment. As he turned right he saw Lioness, she walked towards him. She wore a green shirt and brown pants. In the last time she had worn pants more often. Some of the women looked at her confused if she walked past them, because she wore no typical dress, but Lioness didn´t seem to notice it.

"You were asleep till now?", she asked surprised as she saw him. Axel nodded. She smiled and gave him a kiss. "I couldn´t sleep that long", she said and smirked.

"Now I have something bad", she continued and looked at him. "I found some more scratches on the wall overthere. Yesterday they haven´t been there, so maybe they came this night", she explained and showed him one wall of the castle. Four deep scratches were in the dark stone.

"I´m sure this was no animal", he said and looked at the scratches in confusion. "Did you tell the others about it?", he asked her. Lioness nodded.

"They know it since some time. I wanted to tell you, too, but you was asleep, so I didn´t want to wake you up. You´ve been very tired yesterday night", she replied and got a closer look to the scratches.

"Really? I don´t remember a lot."

Lioness said nothing. She stared at the scratches absent-minded. Suddenly King came towards them. "So you´ve seen it, too? Very worrying, isn´t it?", he said and looked shortly at the scratches. Seconds later he looked first at Axel, then at Lioness. There was a long silence, the singing birds were the only sound. Some clouds were far away on the sky and really small. The wind was warm and comfortable.

"I guess this is just the beginning", said Axel. King and Lioness looked up at him with an asking look. "I mean the story of the dragon-pendant. You need a special constellation of stars and the pendant and you can rule the world." He pointed at the silver necklace he wore. "And this constellation is in about three months. Until then we must expect strange happenings, because some evil guys wants to get the necklace. This is just the beginning. First this green-skinned snake guy and now this deep scratches. Someone wants to have the pendant, that´s sure."

Lioness thought for a moment. "This creature...he said we should thank you that he has your skills", she said and looked at Axel. King nodded.

"And if you just pay attention to his voice it sounds like yours", he added. Lioness nodded, too. "I was alone in the forest to collect some wood and he stood behind me, I thought he was you because of your voice. But I got distrustful as I noticed his skin felt like the skin of a snake", she said.

"I don´t know, he didn´t say anything as we fought. And it was dark, too. I couldn´t see him very well." Axel looked at his friends.

"You should believe your friends", said a voice behind them. They all turned around and saw the guy with the red hair and the green skin. In the sunlight they saw he wore a darkgreen, white and orange suit. His red eyes looked at the three of them. He smirked a little. Next to him stood a girl. She had ears and a nose like a cat, short black hair and green eyes. She wore a suit, too, colored with red and white. It had black stripes like a tiger. They noticed she had a tail like a cat.

"What do you mean?", asked Axel as he went into fighting position, just like Lioness and King. His face turned serious. The guy just smirked.

"I´ve been created with just a hair of you. Then I was mixed up with some reptiles, of course, so I´m even stronger than you", replied the guy.

"And who is she?", asked Lioness and looked at the catlike girl. The girl grinned. "I´m you, or should I better say, your clone? Our master took your hair and spoke a difficult spell to give us a life. And, how you can see, I have some parts of big cats, too."

"So give us the necklace", ordered the snake-skinned one. His red eyes looked first at Lioness, then at Axel.

"If you want to have it, you must kill me first", said Axel.

"No problem", grinned the guy evilly. "Firekat, take care of his little girlfriend", he ordered to the girl next to him. She smiled and showed some of her sharp teeth. Then she let sharp claws appear, they looked like too long and very sharp fingernails in black. Firekat jumped towards Lioness. Surprised of this attack Lioness forgot to block it and she was hit. Firekat hit her arm and cut her left arm. The cuts weren´t deep, but blood streamed out of them and colored her shirt red.

Now Lioness attacked her. She kicked, punched, blocked and kicked the whole time. But to her surprise Firekat did the same, too. "Is that all you got?", asked the cat jokingly and grinned. Lioness´ face turned more serious. "I´ll show you something", she said and wanted to kick her, but suddenly her enemy cut her leg with the claws. Blood streamed down her leg and Lioness fell on the ground.

"So you need your claws to defeat me. I thought nothing else, you can´t win without playing tricks", said Lioness and struggled to stand up. As Firekat started another attack Lioness quickly stepped out of the way, so Firekat jumped past her. Lioness grabbed the cat´s tail. She screamed because of pain and whirled around. Lioness grinned. "I can play unfair, too." With a growl Firekat jumped towards Lioness, her claws were out.

Axel blocked another attack of his enemy. "King, go and come for the others!", he shouted to King who had wanted to attack the snake-skinned guy. King nodded and quickly he left. For this moment Axel was unconcentrated. The guy used this moment to attack him. He kicked Axel three time in his belly and grabbed his arm to throw him against the wall. Hardly Axel hit the hard stone and fell on his knees.

He thought of any way to defeat this guy. He had his skills and fought like himself, but he couldn´t be able to practise Jo-Lan. That was impossible. Quickly Axel stood up, ran towards the guy and used his Jo-Lan to blast him away. As he heard Lioness screaming behind him, Axel turned around and saw that Firekat cut through Lioness´ left arm again and kicked her. She landed on the ground and struggled hardly to stand up. Her left arm was full of blood, her normally green shirt was red now.

As Firekat stood over her and wanted to attack Lioness with her sharp claws Axel came from behind and kicked her. Surprised she fell on the ground. Axel helped Lioness to stand up. "Shall we switch?", he asked and looked at her worried. "I think some more cuts and you won´t have any part of your body left with that she could fight", he said as he saw her wounds. She nodded.

The guy attacked the two from behind, but Lioness reacted fast enough and pushed Axel away, so the guy hit none. Then she tried to kick him. He blocked her attacks. "Let me guess, you´re that ugly since birth?", she joked. The guy hissed like a snake with his split tongue and showed his sharp teeth. "I´ll answer my question on my own: yes."

The guy growled something and attacked her. It was as if he knew each of Axel´s movements. He fought like him. But somehow his attacks were a little stronger and harder. She thought of Axel´s weak points if he fought with her. _There is no weak point!_, she thought and blocked one of his attacks. Suddenly he spat some of his venom. The liquid covered her arms and her chest. She couldn´t move her arms. Even breathing was hard for her because the venom had covered a little of her chest, so these parts of her body stopped moving.

Lioness couldn´t breath very well and because of loss of oxygen she passed out. The guy stepped over to Firekat to help her fighting Axel. Axel didn´t know what to do. Fighting one of them was hard enough, but two at the same time? Suddenly he noticed King looking around the corner of the wall. He gave Axel a sign and disappeared. Axel understood. He waited now for the right moment.

Both of these creatures stood now in front of him. On his right arm were deep scratches and on his chest were some of them, too, but they weren´t that deep. He breathed hardly and sweat was on his forehead.

"Well, if you´re killing me in some seconds, you can tell me your name", said Axel and wanted them to come closer.

"Hm, why not? This nice girl is called Firekat, as you know. And I´m Tilian", replied the snake-skinned guy.

"Who is your master? Who created you?", asked Axel while the two came nearer and nearer.

"We´ll keep this as our little secret. But you should be happy that you can help him with your death."

"Great." Axel looked at them. "Now!", he suddenly shouted. Shark and Hawk appeared on the wall and jumped down. They held a net in their hands and threw it on Firekat and Tilian. The creatures fell on the ground and the net wrapped around them.

"Wow, this guy looks very creepy in the daylight, dude", said Shark and looked at Tilian interested. Tilian growled something and hissed. He tried to come out of the net, but it was wrapped around him and Firekat and each movement made everything worse.

"What are we going to do with them now?", asked King.

"Nothing!", said Firekat and cut the net with her claws. Both of them were free. The four guys went into fighting postition. "You can´t fight us all", said Hawk.

"Maybe not, but we´ll see us again", said Tilian and threw something on the ground. A cloud of smoke arose and the two disappeared in it. Some time later the dark smoke and the two clones were gone.

"Funny guys", said King with sarcasm.

Quickly Axel ran over to Lioness. She laid on the ground and breathed very weak. Her arms and some parts of her chest were full of the green venom that made her unable to move. She had passed out. On her left arm were deep scratches and blood ran down her shirt. The arm of the shirt was torn into pieces, just like the legs of her pants. The blood went through the clothes and made everything red.

"We need help!", shouted Axel and looked worried at Lioness´ wounds. They were very deep and she had lost a lot of blood. That she breathed weakly worried him. King and Shark came over to him and helped him lifting Lioness while Hawk ran as fast as he could to fetch a doctor.

"So this is his tender spot", grinned Firekat. She and Tilian stood behind some trees in the near and watched the scene. "We should tell this our master", he said. Firekat nodded. "Maybe he´s a good fighter, but if you have his girlfriend, he´ll do everything", she smiled evily and made four deep scratches into the tree.

**Thanks for reading this chapter, please review! I hope it´s okay that I´m writing about the clones, too. Well, I don´t know another word for clone, so I used it, even though you need hightech to clone someone...and you don´t have this in the time I´m writing about...do you? No, joke, instead of hightech I made it with magic:P Hope it´s okay what I´m writing and please tell me what else I could do! Review please, too! )**


	32. Everything´s getting worse

Everything´s getting worse

They brought Lioness into her room and laid her on her bed. "She can´t breath very well because of the venom",noticed King. He touched the green substance carefully. It was hard now. They looked at him with asking looks. "We should wash it away", he added.

"Okay, we need water", said Axel. "I´ll go and fetch some, dudes." Shark left the room.

"Why does it need that long to fetch a doctor?", asked Axel. His voice sounded annoyed and worried.

"Hey, calm down! She´ll make it", said King and tried to calm his friend down. Axel sat on Lioness´ bed and stroke her hair out of her face. "Why is it always hitting her? Why not me?", he asked after a moment of silence.

"Look at you! Your arm is cut and on your chest is a big and bloody wound. And you are telling me you´re not hit", replied King jokingly.

"But I think I feel better than her", said Axel and looked at her. Her chest rose and fell down in a regular rythm, but very weak. Some sweat was on her forehead and her face looked as if she was in big pain.

"She´s your tender spot", answered King finally. Axel looked up at him. With confusion. "What do you mean?", he asked.

"You are a strong fighter and your enemies can´t find any tender spot if they´re fighting with you. And if you are equally good none can win. That´s not what your enemies want, they want to defeat you, to kill you. And the easiest way to do this is not to fight with you, but to use Lioness. She is your tender spot", explained King. As Axel wanted to say something Shark came back with some water. They took some clothes, made them wet and tried to wash the venom away.

Minutes later they finished. Then Hawk and a doctor came in. He sat in a wheelchair and rolled over to Lioness´ bed. "What happened to her?", he asked as he saw her deep wounds.

"Err...you won´t believe us, I guess. Let me say we fought for our lives and she got badly hurt", explained King. The doctor looked at everyone. He was very young, not older than the teens. He had short and dark hair and wore glasses. At last his asian-looking, blue eyes looked at Axel. Then he checked her wounds again.

"Please go out while I´m checking her up. The wounds are not very deep, but she is very weak and needs to get some rest", he explained. Hawk, King and Shark headed for the door, but Axel didn´t move. "Can I stay here? She means a lot to me", he said.

The doctor sighed. "Okay, you can stay. But none else please." Axel looked at his friends. They nodded to him and closed the door quietly. The young man looked at the wounds worried. "Would you give me the scissors, please?", he said and pointed at his bag that laid on the bed. Axel opened it and found the scissors. He gave it to the doctor.

Quietly he cut the torn up arm of Lioness´s shirt to reach the bloody scratches easier. Shortly he shook his head and laid the scissors away. Axel watched his movements interested. The man noticed this and looked up at him. "Can you help her?", asked Axel.

He nodded a little. "The scratches are not that deep, so I don´t need to sew them. Would you give me the bandages, please? And while you´re standing around you can tell me what happened to her. I´ve never seen wounds like she has", said the young man and took the bandages Axel gave him.

Axel told him the whole story. That the clones attacked them and so on. The doctor listened interested and bandaged Lioness´ wounds. "That´s why she´s breathing very weak. I was wondering why. It isn´t normal if you just have wounds on your arms and legs", said the doctor as he finished his treatment. "I guess she´ll wake up soon", he added as he noticed Axel´s worried look.

"Thank you, Mr...", began Axel.

The doctor laughed. "No, _Mr_ is my father, I´m Garrett. What´s your name?"

"I´m Axel. Why didn´t we met earlier? I mean you live here in the castle, too, don´t you?", he asked.

"That´s right, but I´m mostly in my laboratory. To be a doctor isn´t my normal work, but I learned a lot about medicine. No, my favorite doing is learning more about magic. In my lab I try some spells and so on. Sometimes it´s very helpful", explained Garrett.

"So you know something about magic? Then...is it possible to make a copy of someone? I mean a copy that can live and has an own character and so on", asked Axel and tried to get some answers.

"Hmmm...don´t know exactly. I´ll have to look up in some books for it. But theoretical it is possible", replied Garrett. "What´s wrong with your arm? I can see some deeper scratches than your friend has", he noticed and looked at Axel´s arm. "Show me, I´ll bandage it quickly."

Axel put off his shirt and showed Garrett his wounded arm. "That doesn´t look good...can you move it?" Axel lifted his arm a little, but somehow his arm was too weak. He couldn´t lift it higher than his shoulder. The pain was very big, so he put his arm down.

"That´s what I expected. The biceps is cut and some sinews, too. The periosteum is hit, and-"

"Stop! Please a little slowlier, okay?", said Axel as Garrett explained everything what was wrong with his arm.

"Okay. Let me say it short: You mustn´t move your arm until everything has recovered. Otherwise the recovery will take longer if you move it too much. Looks not good", he replied.

First he used some alcohol and cleaned the wound. Axel winced as the liquid touched his wound, but he said nothing and bit his lower lip in pain. Then Garrett bandaged it carefully. Axel looked at his new friend and smiled. "Don´t you have a spell to close the wound?", he asked jokingly.

"Yes, I have such a spell, but I won´t use it", replied Garrett and rose and eyebrow.

"Too bad...but I can´t fight with this injury. And if this clones come back...?" He tried to convince Garrett to use the spell. His wound was aching and every movement was full of pain.

"You can say what you want, but I won´t do it. It costs me a lot of energy, because if you use this spell you give some of your life-power to the person you want to recover. So the body of the person gets enough energy to close the wound faster. But the natural way is better, isn´t it?", smirked Garrett and patted on Axel´s shoulder.

"Of course, but I can´t protect the dragon with a hurt arm." He tried it again and put his shirt on. "I said no", answered Garrett. "Listen, I´m not an expert with magic and my power is not very big. So it costs me the same power as if your body would close the wound on itself and on the natural way, but it takes me the power, that it needs, away at one time. I´ll do nothing", he explained.

There was long silence. Then Garrett looked at Lioness. "You like her a lot, don´t you?", he asked smirking and looked at Axel. He blushed a little and nodded. "She saved my life", he said.

"And you saved hers. She´s breathing normal again. Thanks to you and your friends", said Garrett. "I´ll go now, my work is done", he added and headed for the door.

"Maybe we´ll see us again. My lab is on the sixth floor, the third door on the right. Would be nice if you and your friends would visit me sometimes", he said smiling, opened the door and left.

Now Lioness woke up. Axel turned around and his face lit up as he saw she was looking at him. "Good morning, miss, did you sleep well?", he asked and sat down on the edge of her bed. "What happened?", she asked with a still weak voice.

"We were in the middle of a fight and what did you do? You fell asleep", he replied jokingly. "The others came, too, but Tilian and Firekat could escape", he added.

"What?" Lioness sat up very quickly. But she winced as she felt the pain in her arm and fell back in her bed. She looked at the thick bandage. "Garrett bandaged your wound. You were lucky, they hit me more than you", said Axel and showed her his right arm with the bandages around it. She looked at him worried, but he began to smile. "Everything´s okay", he smiled.

"Who is Garrett?", she asked curious.

"A very nice guy, he learned a lot about medicine, so he could help you. But he´s mostly in his laboratory learns something about magic and spells. Unfortunately he didn´t want to close my wound. It´s very deep and even cut the periosteum a little. Tell me how I should fight with a thick bandaged arm!"

"Not at all", she answered. Then she stood up. "Don´t you think you should stay in bed? At least for this day", said Axel and looked at her as she left her bed.

"Now _I_ must stay in bed? And what was with you in Reustra when you had your pneumonia? You ran around like crazy child and now _you_ are telling me to stay in bed. Wow, your arguments are great", she replied and changed her shirt because the one she wore was full of blood and torn up.

"Then not", he said and stood up with a sigh. "But it´s not my fault if-"

"Don´t worry the whole time", she interrupted. "You´re not my mother." Lioness smiled.

"I told you the same thing in Reustra when I was ill", mentioned Axel and smiled, too.

**Please review:P Now I´m trying to use some more characters of the second season. Well, Garrett was in the first one, too, but I got the idea of putting him into this story just some time ago. Do you have any other ideas of characters I didn´t mention? Tell me please!**


	33. The forbidden part of the library

The forbidden part of the library

Two days later the five teens decided to visit Garrett in his laboratory on the sixth floor. They walked upstairs and reached a corridor with seven doors. The corridor wasn´t very long and some torches spent a lot of light. There were six wooden doors on the right and on the left side, they looked all the same. The seventh door was at the end of the corridor, it was a little larger than the others and was made up of metal. Some rust was on it and it looked really old.

They went to the third door on the right side and knocked at it. As someone from the inside called they should come in, Lioness opened the door and stepped in, followed by the others.

The room was larger than they had expected. Long cupboards with thick, leather covered books stood at a wall in opposite of the door. A large table, made up of glass, stood in the middle of the room. On it were different bottles with essences, mixtures and herbs. On the desk that stood next to the cupboards were some candles burning and some lamps spent light. The air was very thick because of some burning herbs that laid in a bowl on the table. Smoke rose into the air. But it was yellow.

Garrett sat in his wheelchair at his desk. Some thick books laid in front of him. He read one of them. The cover looked like black leather. "Hey, guys, nice to see you again", he smiled as he saw them coming in.

"Wow, what is this?" Shark looked at the different bottles on the glass-table.

"Important things you need for some spells. But I don´t use many of them, because I´m reading the most time", answered Garrett. Shark took one of the bottles and got a closer look at it.

"Don´t open this bottle!", warned Garrett quickly. Shark looked at him confused. "The herb in it is in contact with a special liquid. If you smell it, you will pass out at once."

"That doesn´t sound that bad", interrupted Hawk. Garrett rose an eyebrow.

"Really? Even if you don´t wake up in the next five years?" Quickly Shark put the bottle back on the table and took a step backwards with a little scared face.

"Did you find something out because of the clones?", asked Axel and noticed that King went to the cupboards with the books. He looked at every book interested.

Garrett shook his head. "No, I´m sorry, but I didn´t find out anything. I have no books about that theme. The only possibility could be the library", he replied. Meanwhile Hawk looked at some other bottles on the table. Some of them had green, blue or orange liquids and mixtures with different plants and herbs in them.

"We looked up in the library yesterday, but found nothing", said Lioness while she watched Hawk looking at the bottles.

"Did you look up in the closed part?", smirked Garrett. "Which closed part?", asked Axel excited.

"The library is much bigger than you thought. It isn´t just on the third and fourth floor. The half of the fifth floor belongs to the library, too. But it was closed, because Lee didn´t want anyone to read books about magic and black magic. He was afraid someone could learn it and grow better than him. I haven´t been there yet, but there must be some books which could help us. "

"But if it is closed, who has the key to come in?", asked King and walked back to Garrett, Axel and Lioness.

"He stands...well, sits...in front of you", smirked Garrett and took a key out of his pocket and smiled.

Suddenly they heard a loud noise as if glass got broken. They looked over to Shark and Hawk who stood next to the table. To their feet laid a broken bottle. A blue liquid streamed out of it and lightblue smoke rose into the air.

"Go away from the liquid, the smoke is unimportant!", ordered Garrett quickly.

"Err...a little too late, I guess", said Shark as he stepped backwards. He pointed at Hawk. On his hands was some of the blue liquid. "Is it bad?", he asked scared. Garrett just sighed. Somehow he had to smile a little.

"No, it isn´t dangerous. But for the next 24 hours your skin will be blue like the sky", answered Garrett. "Three, two, one..." The liquid on Hawk´s hands started to run over his skin. After some seconds he was totally blue. His friends began to laugh.

"Oh no! My face!", he screamed as he saw himself in a mirror King gave him.

"Don´t worry, in 24 hours it´ll be gone...I guess", said Garrett.

"What means _I guess_???" Hawk sounded worried and scared.

Garrett grinned. "Just a joke. It won´t last longer than a day."

That relieved Hawk. He laid the mirror on the table and walked over to his friends. "Let´s go to the library", suggested Lioness. They walked out of the laboratory and towards the stairs.

"Wait, I think Garrett can´t come with us. How are you going to climb the stairs?", asked King. But Garrett just started smiling. "It´s okay, we´ll meet us on the fifth floor", he just said and rolled to the metal door at the end of the corridor. The five teens just shrugged their shoulders confused and walked downstairs.

On the fifth floor they waited in the corridor for Garrett. Axel leaned with his back against a wall and looked at the dancing flames of a torch that hung on the wall. It spent a lot of light. Hawk looked worried at his skin. He was totally blue. King crossed his arms and shook his head as Hawk tried to make the blue color away. Shark was still giggling. Everytime he looked at Hawk he nearly laughed. Nearly. Lioness watched this funny scene. Then she noticed Axel´s look on her and turned to him. He stared at her absent-minded.

A door at the end of the corridor opened and Garrett came out of it. "What?", he asked confused as he noticed that the five teens looked at him in surprise.

"Cool, you can go through walls!", said Shark impressed.

Garrett just shook his head. "No, there´s a lift. I constructed it and some of my friends helped me building it. So it´s easier for me to come up and downstairs", he said grinning. "Constructing things is one of my other hobbies. But enough of that, let´s have a look at the library." He rolled towards one of the three doors in the corridor and put the key in. Then he opened the door.

"Eh, I guess since the last ten years none has seen the inside of this rooms", he said as he rolled in. The others followed him.

The room was totally dark. Not any light came into this room. King took a torch and led the group. Suddenly Shark screamed behind them, so they all turned around or went into fighting postion. "Oh, it was just a spidernet", he noticed and wiped the spidernet out of his face. The rest of the group sighed relieved and they continued their way. The torch didn´t spend very much light and it was just enough to see where they went.

"Hey, I found another torch", said Axel and pointed at something at the wall. He took King´s torch and lit it. As he lit it a spark flew something thatt looked like a gutter. The spark landed in the black liquid in this gutter. Suddenly it the whole liquid began to burn. Now they saw that the gutter went around the whole room, it followed the walls one time around the whole room. The room was full of the light of the flames and the six friends could see better now.

"I guess we don´t need this torch anymore", said King and put the torch out. The ground of the room was made up of marmor. The light of the dancing flames in the gutter was reflected. Long cupboards stood in front of them, full of black covered books. Spidernets were in the corners of the room and between some books. Thick dust laid on the cupboards and on the ground. The high windows were closed and thick boards were in front of them, so no sunlight could come in.

"Great, ten cupboards and six people. We should split up", suggested Shark. The others nodded and everyone went towards a cupboard. The room was at least eight metres and the cupboards were six metres high. Ladders stood next to every cupboard.

Axel looked at the books in the first cupboard as he heard a shouting voice, "What exactly are we trying to find?!" It was Hawk. He was three cupboards behind Axel. Before he could shout an answer, Lioness did.

"Books about black magic and spells to clone someone!", she shouted as loud as she could. She was on the other side of the room, but Axel could hear her very well.

"Okay!", was the very loud answer. Somehow Axel grinned. This was too funny. He climbed the ladder to reach the books on top of the wooden and old cupboard. Axel tried not to use his right arm that still ached and was wrapped in thick bandages. As he reached the top he looked at the books. "_Herbs in forests, Magical creatures, How to create a magical mirror_, wow, you have books and spells for everything", he mumbered as he looked at the titles of the black books.

Suddenly the ladder collapsed with a loud _crack_. Alarmed Axel grabbed the edge of the cupboard as the ladder fell hardly on the ground and broke into splinters. He could just hang with his left arm on the edge of the wooden cupboard. Relieved that he didn´t fall on the ground he started climbing down the cupboard, very slowly. After a metre of climbing the cupboard slowly started to tip over.

Axel cursed something and thought quickly of a way to get down to the ground without being buried under a six metre high cupboard and at least a ton of thick books. So he pressed his feet against the cupboard and jumped backwards. With a backflip he landed on top of the cupboard behind him. He noticed that someone stood beneath him in front of the cupboard. It was Shark.

"Shark! Go away!", shouted Axel. Shark looked up at him and understood. Quickly he ran away from the cupboard and saw how the first cupboard fell against the one Axel stood on. With another somersault he landed on the next cupboard as the first one fell against the second one. Both tipped. This time none stood in front of the cupboard he stood on, so Axel jumped to the next one. He couldn´t get down the ladders that leaned against the cupboard because it would take him too long to get down. Meanwhile the books would have fallen on him.

"Shark, tell the others to go away!", he shouted and Shark began to run to the others who stood in front of different cupboards. Axel turned another somersault and landed on the next cupboard. "Hawk, go away!" Hawk looked up, confused. But as he noticed Axel who shouted at him he should go away he nodded. He saw Shark running past him. "What´s up?", asked Hawk.

"Run, or the cupboard will land on you!", he shouted. Quickly Hawk followed his friend.

Meanwhile Axel jumped from one cupboard to the next one. He couldn´t get down to the ground, it was too high. As he reached the thirdlast cupboard he saw his friends standing a few metres away from the falling cupboards. King ran towards them, pressed his hands against the cupboard Axel stood on and tried to stop the falling cupboards. But he couldn´t and jumped away before the cupboards buried him.

Axel reached the last cupboard that stood at the wall. There was no way out. The cupboards fell, hit the last one a little and fell on the ground. To Axel´s surprise the last cupboard was still standing. Reliefed he sighed. But suddenly the last cupboard began tip over into the other direction, where the other cupboards had come from. With a scream of surprise he grabbed a stone that rose out of the wall. Unfortunately he did it with his right and hurt arm. Axel hissed as he felt the stinging pain and let the stone go.

With a short scream he landed on the still tipping over cupboard, slided on the dusty top of it and fell backwards on the other fallen cupboards and books. Dust rose as he hit the old books. He opened his eyes and saw that the heavy and old cupboard falling on him.

"Axel!" Lioness saw how he grabbed the stone of the wall. But he let the stone go and fell with a short scream on the still falling cupboard, slided over the dusty wood and landed on the fallen cupboards. She and the others ran towards him and tried to rescue him before a ton of books could fall down on him. The cupboard was still falling and falling...

**Review please! You see, learning may be helpful, but too much books can even kill you... evil-grin**


	34. Hidden Enemies

Hidden enemies

Axel´s eyes widened in shock. But before the cupboard could fall on him he quickly struggled to stand up and used his Jo-Lan to blast it away. The cupboard got broken and books or separate pieces of paper flew through the air. As he felt the pain in his arm he fell on to his knees and cursed. His back was aching, too, because he had landed on the hard books and the cupboards. His leg ached a little, too. He closed his eyes in pain and held his arm.

"Are you okay?", asked Lioness and knelt down next to him. He struggled to stand up slowly. She helped him. He looked around. "Cool, I´m better than an earthquake", he joked, but took a hissing breath in as he moved his right arm.

"Ehm...how are we going to find the righ books in this chaos?", asked King as he looked around. The cupboards laid on the ground, some of them were broken. And the books laid all over the ground, just like some separate pieces of papers. Thick dust was still in the air, so sometimes they coughed a little.

"I guess we have to pick each book up", said Garrett and sighed. "Let´s put the books we don´t need on this side, the useful books on the other one of the room, okay?" They nodded.

They started at once. Axel knelt down on the floor and looked at some books. He took five thick ones who were useless and lifted them to bring them to the left side of the room. His arm ached, but he ignored the pain and walked straight to a small hill of books that was there. Lioness came back from this hill and wanted to take the next books. She looked at him worried. "You mustn´t move your arm", she said.

"That doesn´t matter to me at the moment", he replied and laid the books on the small hill. As he turned around Lioness stood close in front of him. She looked into his eyes worried and a little angry. "Why are you always doing what _you _want?", she asked.

"Because this is my character and I can´t change it", he answered and walked back to the fallen cupboards to pick up the next books. Lioness followed him and lifted four books. As Axel lifted four thick books, too, he closed his eyes in pain for a moment.

"You see! You have a lot of pain and mustn´t move your arm, but you´re using it as if you were not hurt", she said and brought the books away. He followed her and laid the books on the hill. He wanted to go back to the fallen cupboards, but Lioness stood in his way. "You´re doing nothing now", she said and looked into his eyes. Her head was a little red because of anger.

"Yeah, you should listen to her. You did enough for this day, because of you we must pick up all of these books", interrupted Shark jokingly as he laid some books on the hill of books.

"Shut up!", shouted Axel and Lioness at the same time at Shark. Then they turned to each other again. "Don´t you see that I´m just worried?", she asked.

"A little too worried, if you ask me", he replied and got angry.

"You shouldn´t move your arm! Even a doctor told you not to move it, nevertheless you´re doing it! Listen to him or-"

"Or what? Are you going to fight with me?", he asked provoked.

"If you want!", she shouted.

"Hey, guys, calm down! You´re arguing like an old married couple", interrupted King and stood between them now.

"You should be careful, King. Go away there before they´re killing each other", said Hawk and carried some books past them. The three looked at him, Axel and Lioness with anger, King with a _shut-up-before-they-are-killing-you-_look.

"And you should go away now, blueberry. Namely very, very fast and very far away", said Lioness slowly and with anger in her eyes. Hawk was offended because of his blue skin and walked back to the books. There he picked up the next ones.

Before Axel and Lioness could start arguing again Garrett called them. Quickly they walked over to him. In his hand he held a black covered book with old, golden letters on it. _Black magic_ said the gold letters. "I found this one between the books overthere." He pointed at a broken cupboard with a lot of other black covered books. "And I have the perfect job for you, Axel. You can read in this book while we continue our search", suggested Garrett.

"Do what he says. You can help us more when you don´t move your arm and when you´re reading in this book", said King quickly before Axel could say anything. With a growl he took the black covered book, walked towards the next wall and leaned with his back against it. Slowly he sank to the ground, opened the book and started reading.

"I guess he has a very bad day, guys", said Shark and walked over to the books. The others followed him and continued their search.

The book Axel read was about how to learn black magic. Some spells were in it, too. In the next two hours he read in this book until he found nothing interesting anymore. Next to him were two other black books now. His friends had put them there while he was reading. With a sigh he took the next book and opened it. This one was about spells. The first five chapters were about easy spells, the next three chapters about more difficult spells and the last six about the most difficult ones.

He started reading in the last six chapters. To clone someone had to be very difficult, so Axel thought he could find something in the last chapters. He turned from page to page, from chapter to chapter. In the last chapter he found something interesting.

_The art of creating an exact copy of an animal or human being is very old and one of the most difficult ones. The following spell uses a lot of your energy. So don´t use it too often in a short time! It may kill you. _

_You need: _

_- A hair or something else from the body of the one you want to copy. Even in a hair is enough of this person to copy his or her character, outer appearence and voice._

_- The leaves of an a hundred year old palm_

_- Moonflowers which were picked in a night of a full moon_

_- The dried blossom of a shepherds needle_

_- Dew from the grass in the early morning sun_

_Put everything exept the hair into a bowl and mix it well. The put the hair into the bowl and light everything. Then walk three times backwards in a circle and speak the spell one time. After speaking the spell put the ash on the ground and speak the spell again. If everything worked the one you wanted to copy stands in front of you._

That was everything that stood there. Some pictures were on the page, too. They showed the plants you needed.

Lioness walked over to Axel and knelt down in front of him. She watched him reading the book with high concentration. "What?", he asked without looking up. He turned to the next page. She didn´t reply. The way he sat there and read the book was so...cute. His brown hair shimmered in the light of the fire and let his normally clear blue eyes look green. Concentrated his eyes flew over the words on the page in the book. The bandage around his right arm was a little red because some blood came through.

"Li, what´s up?", he asked again as she didn´t answer. He looked up at her. She stared into his eyes. Her green-golden eyes looked straight into his ones. For some moments they looked at each other in silence. As she moved her face towards his face she suddenly stopped and switched a telling look with him. At the same time they turned their heads to the four guys who were a few metres away and watched them.

As King, Garrett, Shark and Hawk noticed that the two looked at them, they quickly looked away and continued carrying books. But Axel and Lioness knew that the four young man were still glancing at them sometimes. Lioness didn´t matter it and slowly she moved her face towards his. She closed her eyes as they kissed. Axel closed his eyes, too, and enjoyed their kiss.

Suddenly she broke the kiss and turned around. The four guys looked at them and started to smile innocent. "What´s so interesting?", asked Axel.

"It´s just good to see that the you two are together again", grinned King and continued with his work.

Lioness looked at Axel again. Both shrugged their shoulders. "Did you find out anything?", she asked.

"The book just says what you need for the spell and that it costs a lot of energy to do it. There is a warning given, too. You shouldn´t use this spell too often in a short time. There is nothing else", he replied and closed the book. Then he stood up.

"Guys, I found something interesting!", shouted Garrett. Lioness and Axel walked over to him, King, Hawk and Shark followed them. Garrett held some pieces of wood in his hands. They were from the broken ladder.

"Look, here, there are some cuts in the wood. This ladder didn´t collapse because it was too old, someone cut it", he said and showed them the wood.

"But who did it? I mean, who should cut the ladder?", asked Hawk.

"I guess you get the answer if you turn around", said a voice behind the six friends. They all whirled around.

**So, thanks for reading (again) and please review and tell me if you liked it:-)**


	35. Another one

Another one

After they turned around the six friends saw three figures standing in front of the wooden door. They knew two of them. Tilian stood there with crossed arms and looked hateful at the teens with his red eyes. Firekat crouched on the ground like a cat, her claws shimmered in the light of the fire. But next to her stood another creature with blue skin and long darkblue hair. He looked very strong because of his muscles and wore a red, armless jumpsuit. On his forehead was a horn. He looked at the teens with his blue eyes.

"Wow, nice horn, dude", said Shark jokingly.

"Thanks", grinned the blue one evilly.

"Hey, Hawk, you two are nice partners, I guess", joked Lioness as she looked at his blue skin. He looked at her with anger. "But he doesn´t look that good like me", he defended himself.

Tilian looked at the teens. "Say hello to your copy, King. This is Wrecka. He has all your skills, but is even stronger than you. Wrecka, show our friends your powers", said Axel´s clone. Wrecka just nodded and snorted shortly and bowed his head so his horn pointed at the six teens in front of him. Then he started running towards them. Before he could hit them, they jumped away. Quickly Axel grabbed Garrett´s wheelchair and pulled him out of the way. Wrecka ran past them, but became slowlier as he noticed he hadn´t hit them.

Garrett looked around. "There! Into this room!" He pointed at a door on the other side of the room. It was very old and small, maybe a storeroom. As Firekat and Tilian ran towards them, too, Axel, Garrett, Lioness, King, Hawk and Shark hurried into the small room and blockaded the door quickly with some boxes they found. The room was very small. There stood some cupboards full of old bottles and so on. Axel pressed his back against the cupboard to have a little more place to move. The others did the same. Garrett sat in the middle of their circle.

"King! You´re standing on my feet!", hissed Hawk and tried to push King away.

"Guys, stop this! We have no time for stupid games", said Lioness angry.

"We have a really big problem", said Shark and looked at everyone. "They´re going to kill us, dudes."

"Shark is right", said Axel. The air in the storeroom was very thick and it was that dark that they couldn´t see very well. They heard hard knocks at the door. "Garrett, I can´t fight with my hurt arm. Can´t you close the wound a little faster?", asked Axel. "Please."

"But-"

"Do what he says", interrupted Lioness. "Either we´re dieing or we can fight. They´re his, King´s and my clone and they have our skills, so we know how to defeat them. My arm is nearly healthy again, so I can fight. But we need Axel", she said.

Garrett sighed. "Okay, but this is the first and last time I´m doing this. Axel, give me your hurt arm", he said. Then he laid his right hand on the wound and spoke a short spell. There was a long silence that was broken by the hard knocks at the old door.

"Err, did it work?", asked a voice in the darkness. It was Hawk.

Suddenly a lightblue wave of Jo-Lan energy blasted the door of the storeroom away. The door hit Firekat and threw her against the next wall. She growled like a cat as she hit the wall. Axel looked at his arm in surprise. "Yes, it worked", he said smiling as he saw the wound was gone. He could move his arm like before. "How do you feel?", he asked Garrett.

"I´m okay, just a little weak. It cost a lot of energy", he replied and smiled.

The others came out of the storeroom too. Tilian and Wrecka stood a few metres away in front of them, Firekat pushed the door furious away. She walked over to her teammates and looked at Axel with a hateful look. "I´ll kill you for that!", she hissed.

"No! Don´t kill him, we have the order to take the pendant and let him alive!", said Tilian and looked at Firekat. She growled something and retracted her claws. "You can hurt them as much as you want, the most important thing is that they´re staying alive", he added. She nodded.

"This won´t be difficult", grinned Lioness´ clone and hissed like a wild cat before she ran towards Lioness to attack her. She blocked the attack and ducked as her enemy wanted to kick her. Meanwhile Axel attacked Tilian with a kick but missed, the next punch was blocked. He jumped into the air as Tilian tried to kick his legs. Then Axel grabbed Tilian on his shoulders and threw him against the wall. Dust rose into the air and gulped the green-skinned clone. Unsure if he had passed out Axel took a step towards the cloud of dust to have a better look.

Suddenly a figure jumped towards him and tried to kick Axel, but Axel jumped as fast as he could out of the way so Tilian missed hissing his opponent. With a hateful look he noticed Axel behind him and turned a backflip to land behind him. But Axel did the same.

King and his clone stood a while in opposite of each other. Then Wrecka ran towards King and tried to hit him with his horn. But King grabbed the clone´s hands and pressed them against his enemy. Wrecka was very strong, but King tried to push him away. "Is that all you got?", asked King and looked Wrecka into his blue eyes. They looked at him with a hateful look. He took all his powers and pushed King with a hard flip against the next wall. Dust rose into the air, but King stood up again to attack his clone again.

"Dude, what shall we do?", asked Shark confused while he, Hawk and Garrett were watching the fight between the three teens and their clones. Axel turned a flik-flak three times backwards and Tilian did the same. It looked like a funny dance. Tilian copied Axel´s movements, and none attacked the other one. Lioness kicked, then she ducked and kicked again. Firekat did the same, too. Sometimes she punched Lioness, but her attacks were blocked or she missed. King and Wrecka stood in front of each other and pressed their hands against the hands of the other one. This way they tried to push the other one backwards. But none was stronger than his enemy.

"Don´t know, but somehow we must help them", said Hawk and watched the fight interested.

"Guys! Do something!", shouted Axel as he stopped turning backflips and flik-flaks. "I feel dizzy because of all those flik-flaks!", he added before he moved towards Tilian and cried, "Jo-Lan chohumatsu!" A blue Jo-Lan energy wave appeared, but Tilian quickly took a step sidewards, so Axel missed. Tilian used Axel´s confusion to grab him and throw him high into the air. Then he jumped and kicked Axel in his belly three times. Everytime he kicked him they went a little higher. As they were high enough the clone grabbed the Jo-Lan warrior and threw him on the ground as hard as he could.

With a short scream of pain Axel hit the ground, but stood up again and ignored the stinging pain in his belly. He growled a little as he saw Tilian landing on the ground, smiling evilly. Suddenly he noticed Tilian held something in his hand and held it in front of his face to look at it. It was the necklace with the dragon. Axel touched his neck, but the necklace was gone. Tilian really had it. Shocked he ignored the pain in his belly and the sweat on his forehead and ran towards his clone.

"He has the necklace!", shouted Axel towards the others. Now Shark and Hawk helped him. Shark came from behind and jumped on Tilians back. Furious Tilian tried to throw Shark off from his back, but Shark held on tight. Meanwhile he tried to get the necklace, but just grabbed into the air because Tilian moved too fast. He grabbed Shark´s shoulder and threw him over his back on to the ground. He landed in front of Axel.

Now Hawk jumped as far as he could and tried to reach Tilian´s hand with the necklace, but missed because Axel´s clone took a step backwards. Hawk landed on his stomach, but stood up quickly. He went over to Axel who helped up Shark. "They mustn´t escape", said Axel and went into fighting position again.

"Wrecka, Firekat, come on, we have what we wanted!", shouted Tilian.

Wrecka used all his powers and pushed King away so that he fell on the ground. As Firekat started running towards her teammate Lioness jumped and grabbed her legs so that she fell on the ground hardly. The cat spat and roared wildly and furious. She kicked Lioness and could escape from her grip. Tilian and Wrecka watched the two fighting.

The four guys used this moment to attack them from all sides. King grabbed Wrecka, threw him on the ground, sat on his back and took him into a strong grip so that he couldn´t move. He snuffled angry and tried to move. Axel ran towards Tilian as he was unconcentrated and kicked him. The kick hit the green-skinned guy on his chest so that he fell a few steps backwards. Hawk used this moment to try to get the pendant, but he missed again. "Can´t you stop moving for only a second?", asked Hawk annoyed as he fell on the ground.

Axel kicked Tilian´s hand and the pendant flew through the air. Everyone stopped fighting and watched the necklace flying through the air. First Firekat jumped and tried to get it, but Lioness grabbed her legs again and she fell on the ground. "You´re going nowhere", she said. Tilian tried to get it, too, but Axel kicked him harldy into his belly and he took a few steps backwards.

The pendant flew and flew until Shark jumped out of nowhere and caught the silver necklace out of the air. He landed on the ground. "Oh yeah! Who´s the best, dudes? Of course, me!", he cheered as he stood up.

Tilian hissed with his split tongue and looked hatefully at Axel who stood smiling behind him. "Maybe you have three clones of us, but you don´t have the whole team. That´s why we´ll always be better than you", he said and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"And we´ll always look better than you", added Hawk and checked his hair.

Axel´s clone suddenly spat some venom at Axel, but he took a step sidewards because he had expected this attack. The green venom landed on the ground. Tilian hissed again.

"It´s time for you to leave now", said Axel.

"Yeah, and you should never come back", added King while he still held Wrecka in his grip. The blue-skinned clone struggled to get free. At his last try he made it and threw King against a wall.

Tilian looked first at Wrecka, then at Firekat. "Well, I´m sure we´ll see us again. And then none of you will forget our meeting!", he hissed. Wrecka ran towards the wall with the windows which were blockaded by thick woods. He ran through the massive stone and left a hole in the wall. Dust rose into the air. Firekat and Tilian followed him through the hole.

"But there are at least fifteen metres to the ground!", said Lioness in surprise. Everyone ran towards the hole. As the dust was gone they looked down at the outside wall of the castle. To their surprise no clone was in sight.

**I know I do always say this but: please review! And thanks to your reviews so far Guys, you´re great!**


	36. Theresia

Theresia

"Very narrow", said Shark and looked at the pendant in his hands. Then he gave it back to Axel.

"I guess someone is planning to clone the whole team", said King looking at the hole in the wall. "But who? Who was able to get some hair of us?"

None could answer. Now they looked at each other and waited that someone said something. "We have to find out more about this constellation of stars and the role of the pendant in this thing. And about the clones", said Garrett after a long time of silence. "I guess I don´t know more than you at the moment, right?" Everyone nodded.

"And where do you want to find the answers? I mean, we looked into every book about black magic we found here. It were just three ones. But now we don´t really know more than before", said Shark and looked with an asking look at everyone. Lioness looked absent-minded at some books on the ground.

"Aren´t there more books we could use? What do you think, Lioness? Lioness? Li!" Axel waved his hand in front of her eyes. She looked up at him. "Are you okay?", he asked.

"Yes, yes", she replied, still a little absent-minded. "We could ask someone I know...you know this person too", she said and looked at Axel. He replied her look confused. "Who do you mean?", he asked.

Lioness didn´t answer and headed for the door. Then she turned around and looked at them. "Guys, I think it´s time to meet Theresia", she said and opened the door. The five guys looked at each other confused. Lioness turned around again. "Come on, or do you want to stay here?" They shrugged their shoulders and followed her to the stablings where she started to saddle her horse.

"I´ll stay here and have a look at some other books in the library. There must be something", said Garrett and watched the five teens getting ready to ride to Theresia. As they finished they sat on their horses.

"We´ll come back in the evening or tomorrow. I don´t know where she wants to go", said Axel to Garrett.

Axel, King, Lioness, Hawk and Shark rode away. Over the large meadows and fields, past forests and trees. The sky was full of white clouds. The wind was warm and blew through Axel´s hair. He rode close to Lioness and leaned over to her. "Err...which person did you mean?", he asked whispering. She just shrugged her shoulders. "You´ll see it", she replied and smiled. Confused Axel kept quiet.

A lot of hours later they reached a small town. They left their horses next to the gate and followed Lioness who walked straight through the streets. She knew the direction very well. "Do you know the person she is talking of?", asked Hawk Axel. He shook his head. In this town he didn´t know anyone. Anyone exept...Suddenly he got it. Quickly he walked a little faster until he went next to Lioness. "Ehm...you don´t mean a small, old woman with long white hair?", he asked and hoped she would say no. But Lioness nodded. "Her name is Theresia", she whispered to him.

"And what do you want from her? She´s a confused old woman", he said and walked a little slowlier as he noticed they came nearer to the lane he had met the woman the last time.

"But she knows a lot about the dragon-pendant, the guardian of the dragon and...about you", replied Lioness and walked a little faster. Axel walked faster, too. Now he wanted to know more.

"But...why? I´ve never met this person before", he said confused.

"She´ll explain it to you", said Lioness shortly. Axel walked slowlier until he walked next to King. "What did she tell you?", he asked interested. Axel snorted shortly. "Don´t ask me. I don´t understand girls. You have just problems with them", he said. As he noticed King´s confused look he began to smile. "Nothing bad, but I think her decision is a little...see it on yourself", he replied.

Lioness led them to the lane. They left the road and walked into the lane. "What are we doing _here_?", asked Hawk in disgust as he saw the dirt on the ground. Everyone looked at Axel first. Then at Lioness as he shrugged his shoulders. Lioness whispered something and looked around. After some minutes disappointment came into her eyes. "Why didn´t it work?", she asked herself quietly.

"Oh, it worked. Why did you come to me?", asked a voice behind the four guys. They all turned around and saw an old woman in a long robe and with long, white hair. Her skin was really pale. Lioness was glad to see the old woman.

"Hello, Theresia. We came to you to get some answers because of...his duty", she said and looked shortly at Axel. The woman´s eyes widened and she looked around. "As you know...we can´t talk here. Follow me", said Theresia and walked past the teens. Lioness followed her at once, the guys hesitated.

"Have you seen her scary and pale skin?", whispered Hawk to Shark.

"I´m not very often in the sun, so don´t wonder about my skin", said the old woman without turning around. "Oh, and even though I´m looking very old I can hear as well as a cat", she added as she seemed to see Hawk´s asking face. "Come on now."

They followed Theresia. Some minutes later they arrived at an old and small house between two bigger ones. The roof had holes and there was no door. Instead of it, there was a red curtain, full of holes too. The woman went into the house. It was just one room. A table, a cupboard and a bed in one corner. Two chairs stood next to the table. Candles were lit and the air was thick and full of different smells that came from herbs. Those herbs hung under the roof to dry. Theresia sat down on a chair. She nodded to Axel to sit down, too, but he shook his head.

"Catalina, do you want to sit down? Your boyfriend wants to stand. What a gentleman", said the old woman while she filled a teapot with water and hung it over a fire next to the bed. Lioness sat down on the chair.

The other guys looked confused, too, but Axel was the most confused one. Why did this woman know that much? "Do you want tea?", she asked smiling. Everyone shook his head. Theresia put a cup on the table and sat down, too.

"At first, I want to say sorry to you, young dragon warrior. It was stupid of me that I ran away. But unfortunately I was shocked that the battle is so near...", began Theresia.

"Because of this we came to you. What do you know about the star constellation? Is there a place you have to go to if you want to use the pendant?", asked Lioness. The woman thought for a moment.

"Yes, there is one place. Have you ever been at the coast of Landmark? No? It is in the west, very far, far away from here. You won´t need that long like you needed when you came from the north. But it takes at least two weeks", she began to explain.

"I´ve been there one time, there are cool waves to surf", interrupted Shark smiling. Everyone looked at him. "What?", he asked confused. They turned back to Theresia and she continued,

"There is an island in the west of Landmark. It´s called the _insula draconem_, the island of the dragon. Well, that was its name till fifty years ago. Now it´s called Saska. Don´t know why, but the people call this island that name. On this island is a mountain, it has been a vulcano, but since a hundred years it didn´t move. And it´s the top of the mountain, the special place you need to use the pendant. There are three places like this on the world: One is in China, in Hongkong. In the near of the temple of Jo-Lan. The other one is on the island and the last one...none knows it."

She stood up and picked up the teapot. She filled the cup with hot water and put some herbs into it. "As you know it´s your duty to prevent the evil guys from bringing the dragon there. None knows what they will do with that big power", she said and drank some tea. "But you didn´t came to get to know this, did you?" She looked at Axel.

He sighed. "Is it possible to make a copy of someone? With magic?", he asked finally.

The woman stopped drinking tea. She put the cup on the table and stood up. She went over to Axel and looked into his clear blue eyes. Theresia was very small, her head was in high of Axel´s chest. She stared into his eyes. Then the old woman took his hand. Her skin felt cold and raspy. He froze a little as she touched his hand. She closed her eyes and whispered something. Suddenly Axel saw in front of his eyes Tilian when they met the first time. The picture changed and there was Firekat, she grinned at him evilly and showed him her claws. The picture changed again and he saw Wrecka, running towards him. Shortly before he could hit him the picture turned around and was then normal again, as if Axel had turned a somersault. At last all these pictures were gone, in front of him he saw Lioness.

"Hey, are you okay?", she asked worried. He sat on the chair where Lioness had sit before. Somehow he felt a little weak. "Yes, I guess", he replied as he shook his head.

"What have you done?", he asked Theresia. He didn´t want to sound angry.

"I looked into your past. I saw what you have seen and you saw it again now. I didn´t know you would nearly pass out", she explained.

"Yeah, she´s right. You should have seen your face. Really scary. Suddenly you turned as white as the feather of a swan, dude", said Shark and smiled a little.

"Don´t worry, you´ll feel better in some minutes. It´s just a small side-effect of this spell. Yes, I can do magic too. Not many, but it´s enough to guess what kind of "copies" they are." She meant Tilian, Firekat and Wrecka.

"And?", asked Axel and frowned. His voice sounded still angry and annoyed, even if it was just a little.

"You know how they´ve been created, don´t you? Well, this ones are more than just clones. They are clones with the skills of you and some animals. Tilian is made up of you and some reptiles, as you can see. Firekat is half a cat, like her name says. Wrecka has the powers of the most strongest animals like an elephant. The skills of these animals make them stronger than human beings. I´ve never seen ones like them before", explained Theresia.

"How can we defeat them?", asked King.

Theresia looked at everyone with her nearly white eyes. Then she sighed. "The one way is you kill them. Cut their throat or sting a sword into their chests, the way you do it is unimportant", she began.

"We tried this, but they are too strong. If we fight with them none can win. Tell us the other way", said Axel looking at the old, sad looking woman. She turned to him.

"The other way is", started Theresia, "a little difficult. Clones normally take their life energy from the person they´ve been created of. So you must kill the persons where they take their life energy from. You must..."

"...kill ourselves", finished Axel quietly.

**I hope it´s okay. So, review, guys!**


	37. The MuTeam

The Mu-Team

There was a long time just silence in the small house. Everyone looked at the ground, absent-minded. The fire and the cracking wood were the only sounds in this endless silence.

"But we can´t kill ourselves...who is going to protect the dragon?", whispered Lioness. She looked up at Theresia.

"We...should go home now. Garrett is waiting for us", said King and tried to change the theme and better the sad mood. It didn´t work. Axel stood up without saying a word and wanted to leave. Theresia held him back. "Wait", she said. Axel stopped, but didn´t turn around.

"Let me have a look into your future for the one last time", she said. "Maybe I´ll see something that could help you."

"No." Was the only, short answer as Axel headed for the curtain. But then Lioness stood in his way. She looked deeply into his eyes. "Do it", she just said. For a nearly endless time they looked into each other´s eyes. Lioness stared into his clear, blue and absent-minded looking eyes. After another moment of silence he turned around with a sigh.

"Just this time", he sighed and gave Theresia his right hand.

"You should sit down, maybe you´ll really pass out", said Hawk jokingly, but as an answer he got an angry look of Axel. So he kept quiet.

Theresia took his hand and closed her eyes. Her skin felt raspy, cold and not natural. He froze a little as she touched his hand. Like everytime she did. She stood there for a long time. Shark yawned shortly and Axel threw a confused look at Lioness. She just nodded. Theresia opened her eyes and looked up at Axel. "I can see the same things like before. Hmm...a postitive happening...I can say it a little more exactly now. This positive happening will be in maybe three months. But shortly after this something will destroy this happening and your luck. Your future is still vague...I can´t see anything about how you´ll die, as an old man, or as a still young man. But I can see...oh, there is another happy thing for you, shortly after the bad one. And then...something bad comes again.

You see, you can decide on your own future. Your death is not for sure, so do what you can and try to protect the dragon", she said.

"Okay, there will be something happy, then something bad that destroys this happy thing, then something happy again and at last something bad again, but it won´t destroy the second happy thing, right? Wow, I´ll get headache of your future. I´m glad that it´s not mine", said Shark a little confused.

"You´re not the only one who´s confused", said Axel.

"I think we should go now", interrupted Lioness. Theresia just nodded. "I hope I could help you", she said.

The four guys went out, but Theresia held Lioness back. "I wish you good luck. And try to help him as much as you can, in this times friends are the most important persons around you. You can trust them always. Tell him that", she whispered.

Lioness nodded and followed the guys. They walked back to their horses. Somehow the mood was not very good. Axel walked a little slowlier so that he walked next to Lioness. The three other guys walked in front of them. He glanced to Lioness. She looked absent-minded on the ground and seemed to be in thoughts. While they had been in Theresia´s house the sky had turned grey. The sky seemed to be one grey space. Maybe it would rain this day. Some ravens sat on the red roof of a house and watched the life on the streets interested.

"What can we do?", asked Axel suddenly. Lioness looked at him with an asking sight. "I mean because of the clones. We can´t kill them. They´re too strong. And we can´t kill us. Who else should protect the dragon?"

"We must find another way to defeat them", replied Lioness.

"What other way? We can kill them with a sword or something else, or we kill us to kill them. There is no other way", said Axel.

Lioness kept quiet. "Whatever we´ll do, trust your friends. Theresia told me that", she said after a moment of silence. Axel nodded.

Shortly after midnight they saw the castle at the horizon. Their horses were tired, so they let them walk. It rained a little and the wind blew hard. The lights of the castle were the only ones in this nearly black night. The moon was behind the thick clouds and in the west some lightnings flashed. The thunder came a long time later. For a night in April it was very cold.

"Hey, have you seen that?", asked Shark suddenly and pointed at the sky. But it was still the same black surface.

"No, there is nothing", replied Axel. "Maybe just a star. The clouds are very thin overthere."

"It wasn´t a star. It moved very fast!", said Shark and watched the sky distrustful as if something could fall down in a second.

"You´re a little tired, aren´t you?", smiled King.

"There! Have you seen it! There was it again!", he shouted nervous.

"I don´t think that-"

"No, he´s right. Something is there", interrupted Lioness and looked at the sky. The others followed her look. "Can you hear this?", she asked whispering. They stopped their horses and listened. Then the guys nodded. There was something that sounded like a flying bee, but much louder. Suddenly it stopped and there was silence again. Everyone looked around. The sound started again, this time it was behind them. They turned around, but saw nothing. As it stopped again, Axel gave King a look and they both jumped off of their horses.

Quietly they sneaked into the direction where the sound came from. This buzzing sound started again. It was in front of the two. Axel nodded to King and at the same moment they jumped towards the direction where it had come from. Unfortunately there was nothing. Confused they looked around. Suddenly two or three small things flew past their heads and missed them about some inches. These fast flying things crashed on to the ground and exploded.

For a second high flames rose into the air, the soil was blasted away. Where the objects have exploded was a big hole in the soil. The horses were scared and rose their front legs into the air. Hawk, Lioness and Shark fell on the ground while the horses ran away as fast as they could. The grass burned a little. Quickly King and Axel ran back to the others.

"What was that?", asked Hawk whispering because he was afraid that the thing that had shot at them could hear him.

"If we could see something", hissed King angry and cursed something.

For a long time they said nothing and just listened. The buzzing sound was gone, everything was quiet. The rain stopped and the wind rustled in the leaves of some trees that were ten metres away from the teens. But then the sound came back. Another object missed them about an inch and crashed into a tree behind them. The explosion was bigger than before. The tree fell on to the ground and hit another one. Both began to burn because they were very old and dry, nearly dead. The flames rose high into the sky and lit the darkness of the night.

"Look out!", shouted Lioness. At once everyone jumped away. Another object crashed into the place where they had been and exploded. The flames rose a metre high before they were gone. A big hole was in the ground. The fire of the trees behind them spent the five teens enough light to see what had attacked them. It landed in front of them and grinned.

It had a blue face with some orange parts. Its eyes looked like the eyes of an insect, on its back was something that looked like the opisthosoma of a wasp. This thing was yellow and had black stripes, just like the yellow jumpsuit of this creature. On its back were two wings, like wings of a dragonfly. Now it looked at the teens with its insect-like eyes and was still grinning.

"And who or what are you?", asked Shark a little irritated. Meanwhile everyone had got used to the clones and their appearance.

"His name is Stingfly", said a voice behind the five teens. They all whirled around. There stood another creature with blonde hair, a blue jumpsuit and lightblue skin. Its eyes were red and yellow and on his neck were slits on the left and on the right side. They looked like...gills.

"And his name is Rayza", said Stingfly and grinned.

"Let me guess, you two belong to Tilian´s team, right?", asked Axel. "Why did you come alone? Was this big lizard too afraid to fight with us? Maybe he can´t live with the fact that he could never defeat us", he added contemptuous.

"No, I´m here, Manning", said another hissing voice. It came from the left side. The teens turned to it. Tilian stood there, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked at them with his red eyes.

"Nice that you could come too", said Axel and smirked sarcastically. "But where´s your cat-like girlfriend?", he asked and tried to provoke Tilian. His face turned more serious and he hissed angry with his split tongue.

"Behind you", he hissed and tried to controle his anger. Axel noticed how easy to provoke Tilian was. This could be an advantage.

Firekat crouched to the right side like a cat. She swang her tail back and forth and looked with her green eyes at them. "But one of you is still missing", said Lioness. After she spoke out this sentence they heard someone snorting and whirled around again. Wrecka stood next to Rayza now and grinned. His horn pointed at the five friends. Only now they noticed the clones stood in a circle around them and prevented them from being able to escape.

"Now", began Tilian and smiled evilly at Axel, "let´s see who´s better. You and your normal human beings, or we, the Mu-Team. And after our fight you could give us the dragon."

"Why do you want it?", asked Axel and went into fighting postion, the others did, too.

"Only our master knows why. But I sure you it´ll be something big", replied Tilian. Then he nodded to his teammates to attack the teens. Wrecka snorted shortly before he ran towards King. Firekat roared like a cougar and ran like a cat on her feet and hands towards Lioness. Rayza grinned as he attacked Shark with a kick. Stingfly rose into the air and flew with a nosedive straight into Hawk´s direction. Axel and Tilian stood in front of each other. Axel was in fighting position and ready to react every moment. Tilian just stood there and looked at him.

"What´s up? Too scared? Ha, I knew it. You´re no clone, your just a fake with bad breath", said Axel. He wanted to use the fact that Tilian was easy to provoke as and advantage. To his surprise it worked. With a hateful hiss the clone attacked Axel and tried to kick him. Axel blocked but was surprised how hard this attack was. He concentrated. One mistake and Tilian would nearly kill him. Just nearly, otherwise Tilian would die, too. He knew that. But if Axel passed out Tilian would get the dragon and none of his friends could stop him because they fought with their own clones.

"Hey, be careful, dude, I need this hand!", shouted Shark after Rayza had snapped for his hand with his sharp teeth. Then the clone punched, but Shark ducked and grabbed his feet to threw them high into the air. Rayza fell on the ground. Shark began to smile, but the clone kicked his legs, so he fell on the ground, too. Quickly both stood up again. Shark tried to punch Rayza, but missed. Rayza used this situation and grabbed his hand. Confused Shark looked at his clone, but he just grinned. Suddenly an electrical shock went through Shark and he screamed because of the pain. It was like as if a weak lightning went through him. As Rayza let him go he fell on the ground and held his arm in pain. "Did I mention that I´m made up of an eel, too?", asked Rayza smiling.

"No, I guess you forgot it", replied Shark and stood up again to attack Rayza.

Stingfly shot another bomb at Hawk. Quickly he jumped away. The explosion caused another big hole to the ground. Hawk ran as fast as he could, Stingfly shot with bombs and just missed him about a metre. Hawk could feel the heat of the flames behind him but kept running. He couldn´t attack Stingfly while he was in the air. But maybe...Hawk picked up a stone while he continued running and turned around after an explosion. He aimed shortly and threw the stone at the clone. He didn´t notice the stone, so it hit him on his head. With a short scream of surprise and pain he fell onto the ground.

"Oh yeah, one to nill for the humans!", he cheered and rose his fist into the air. But then he saw Stingfly stood up, rubbing his head. Angry he grinded his teeth and looked at Hawk with his insect-like eyes. Then he opened his mouth and screamed in a very high and aching tone. Everyone, even the other clones, pressed their hands against their ears not to hear this painful sound. The five teens closed their eyes and screamed in pain. They fell onto their knees. But the clones didn´t feel better. Tilian hissed furious, Wrecka and Rayza growled in pain. But Firekat had it harder. Her hearing was as sharp as the hearing of a cat, so she heard everything much louder. With a roar she pressed her hands against her ears. Then she growled and roared again.

As Stingfly stopped with this sound everyone was on his or her knees, pressing their hands against their ears. "Next time", hissed Firekat, "turn the volume a little down, you idiot." For some moments there was a long silence, everyone got up very slowly. They had still an aching sound in their ears. Axel went into fighting position again. Tilian grinned and spat his paralyzing venom at him. It hit his legs. The venom became hard and Axel couldn´t move his legs.

"So you need your venom to beat me", said Axel. Tilian hissed and ran towards him. Axel waited until Tilian was close in front of him. Quickly he used his Jo-Lan and a blue energy wave blasted the clone away. Seven metres far away he landed on the ground and didn´t move. Shark punched Rayza into his stomach so that he fell backwards on to the ground. Hawk kicked Stingfly. He fell on to the ground, too. Lioness punched Firekat, kicked her into the air and with another kick she sent her clone on to the ground. King grabbed Wrecka´s jumpsuit, lifted him into the air and threw the surprised clone away.

Hawk and Lioness ran over to Axel and helped him to get the venom away from his legs. They have just started as Firekat jumped towards them. "Look out!", shouted Axel and pulled Hawk and Lioness out of the way. Firekat´s claws missed them about inches. Meanwhile Tilian stood on his feet again and walked towards Axel. Before Lioness could attack him he wanted to get the necklace, but Axel didn´t wear it.

"Where is the dragon, Manning?", asked Tilian furious and blocked Lioness´ attack. The others fought with their own clones and couldn´t help them. A punch hit Lioness and she fell backwards. Over her stood Firekat and smiled. Lioness got up quickly and kicked her clone.

"It became wings and flew away, just like dragons usually do", replied Axel and smiled. He knew Tilian wanted to kill him, but couldn´t. So he could provoke him as much as he wanted.

"Stop this stupid game, I want to know where it is!", he hissed.

"Maybe it flew to the moon", answered Axel sarcastically.

Tilian sighed. "I hoped we wouldn´t use this way, but..." He gave his teammates a signal. Rayza gave Shark another electrical shock so that he fell on the ground and passed out. Then he came over to Firekat and fought with Lioness. As she was unconcentrated for a moment, Rayza grabbed her arm after a punch and gave her an electrical shock. She didn´t pass out, but was weakened. Firekat used this moment and kicked her hardly. With a short scream Lioness landed on the ground and struggled to stand up. She failed.

Firekat grabbed her and held her claws on Lioness´ throat.

Axel´s eyes widened. "You won´t kill her", he said.

"No, but there are other and more cruel ways to cause her pain. And to cause you pain. Give me the dragon or you´ll never see her again. Well, not like she´s looking now", grinned Tilian. Axel looked at Lioness. She shook her head. She gave him a _don´t-worry-about-me-and-don´t-gave-them-the-dragon-_look. Axel didn´t know what to do. King and Hawk fought with their clones and were unable to help them. Shark has passed out and Axel himself couldn´t move to do anything.

The fire in the trees was still burning. The flames went over to the next dry trees and licked at the wood. Hungry they rose high into the air as if they wanted to follow the smoke that was blown away by the wind. The air was very warm. Axel could feel the heat of the fire and smelled the smoke of it. In front of him smiled Tilian evilly and next to him stood Firekat and Rayza and held Lioness. Axel didn´t know what to do. Giving the dragon to Tilian and kill the whole world with this? Or keeping the dragon? Maybe he wouldn´t see Lioness again...

Desperated he looked first at Tilian, then at Lioness. She looked deeply into his eyes. Her look scared him a little. After a long time of silence Tilian asked, "And?"

Axel threw a last look to Lioness and sighed. "I...made my decision", he replied and closed his eyes.

**I hope you liked this chapter, and I hope you´ll review! Thanks a lot for reading this story! )**

**(Hui, really long chapter, isn´t it?)**


	38. Decision with consequences

Decision with consequences

Axel would have liked to blast away Tilian with his Jo-Lan, but unfortunately the clone stood too far away. With the venom on his legs he couldn´t move. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him, then two short screams. He looked around and saw that Wrecka and Stingfly punched King and Hawk so that they fell on the ground and passed out. Shark hasn´t woke up yet. His friends couldn´t help him.

"So, your friends can´t help you. Now make your decision: Give me the dragon and get Lioness back or keep the dragon with you and never see her again", said Tilian and grinned evilly. Axel looked at Lioness again.

"Don´t give them the-", she tried to shout, but Rayza pressed his hand against her mouth. She tried to get free and kicked, but stopped as Firekat held her claws against her throat. "I can kill you, even if it would kill me", she hissed. Lioness gave up.

"Your decision", repeated Tilian.

Axel sighed and looked at the ground. "Okay...", he began. As if he had two characters he tried to make the right decision. One half of him wanted Lioness back, the other half wanted to safe the world. These two halfs fought hardly and finally one of them won.

"I won´t give you the dragon", he said with a quiet voice and looked at Tilian. In his look were hate and a little sadness. Lioness eyes widened a little, but she had expected this answer. She didn´t hate Axel for this, he had made the right decision. The world was more important than her life. Nevertheless she felt miserable. She felt Firekat´s cold claws on her throat and saw the feelings in Axel´s look he gave her.

"Forgive me", he whispered. Lioness nodded quietly.

Tilian hissed furious. "So, if this is your decision say good bye to your little girlfriend. But if you change your mind you can come to us. Do you know the waterfall in the forest in the north? Well, come to this place in three days, otherwise you´ll never see her again", he said and tried not to sound angry. But you could hear that his voice was shaking because of anger.

Before the clones left with Lioness Tilian spat some more venom at Axel. This time it hit his chest and his shoulders. He fell on the ground and couldn´t move. He tried to see anything, but the clones were out of his view. The last thing he saw before he passed out was the dark, cloudy sky and a full moon that shined through a hole in the nearly black clouds.

Some time after sunrise Axel woke up again. He still laid in the wet grass. But now he was able to move, the venom was gone. Quickly he sat up and looked around. The trees that had stood in flames that night were just a hill of smoking ash. The sky was still full of grey clouds and no sun was in sight. Next to him sat King, Shark and Hawk in the grass. They came over to him as they noticed he was awake.

"How do you feel?", asked King.

"Don´t ask me", replied Axel quietly.

"Dude, what happened this night? This fish-thing gave me an electrical shock and I passed out. Have you seen his teeth? Creepy...", said Shark and shook a little.

"And where is Lioness?", asked Hawk.

"They...took her with them", answered Axel after a short moment of silence. "I didn´t want to give them the pendant, so they let me have a choice. I could give them the dragon or they would take Lioness if I said no. Well...I said no. Was it the right decision?"

"None can say what is right", replied King. "I guess Lioness understands your decision. What are you going to do now?"

Axel said nothing. Absent-minded he looked at the ground. "I guess we should go home, dudes", said Shark after some time. They all nodded and walked towards the castle that was at the horizon. They walked the whole day. At late afternoon they arrived at the castle. Tired and in a bad mood they went into their rooms. Especially Axel felt as miserable as he had never been before.

After closing the door of his room he kicked against the cupboard furious, ignored the pain in his foot and fell on his bed where he crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Somehow he wanted to cry. But he couldn´t. It was a terrible feeling of sadness in him that controlled his mind. Should he go to the waterfall in the forest to free Lioness? But then he couldn´t protect the dragon. And it was his duty.

"Sometimes the duty is more important than the own wishes", said a voice. Alarmed Axel sat up in his bed and looked around. Next to his open window leaned someone with his back against the wall, his arms crossed in front of his chest. It was Dragon. The ninja looked with his yellow eyes at Axel.

"What do you want here?", asked Axel annoyed and laid back on his bed. Even though he hated this man and his master he wasn´t in the mood to fight. In every other situation he would fight with the ninja, but not now.

"I want to know what you´re planning to do. It´s interesting to watch you. You´re between your feelings and your duty and made the right decision", replied Dragon.

Axel laughed sarcastically. "The right decision? No, I don´t know what´s right and what´s wrong in this life. And not even you can tell me."

"And what do you want to do?"

"I´ll free her, even if it costs me my own life", replied Axel. But at the same moment he noticed what he had said. If he was dieing the whole world and every human being would it, too. "Tell me what you would do", said Axel irritated after a short moment of silence.

"Of course I would protect the dragon. Your decision would be very much easier without your feelings for this girl", said Dragon.

Now Axel stood up and walked over to the ninja. He stopped in front of him. "Go now", he said angry.

"Or what? Do you want to fight with me?", asked the ninja and provoked him.

"Isn´t it enough that your master killed my father? Now you´re annoying me and telling me I should protect the dragon and leave her with this...creatures! But do you know something? I´ll free her _and_ protect the dragon. And after that I´ll beat you and your silly master for what you´ve done to my father! But at the moment I have better things to do instead of defeating the murderers of my father!", he shouted at the ninja who didn´t move. "You don´t need to go", added Axel. "I´ll leave."

With this he left the room and walked straight to the stairs. He went upstairs to the sixth floor and stopped in front of Garrett´s door. He knocked and went in after someone answered. Garrett sat at his desk and wrote something on separate pieces of paper. As he noticed Axel he put the writing feather on the desk and closed the small container of ink.

"What´s up?", he asked as he saw Axel´s face. "Did you find something out?"

Axel told Garrett everything about their meeting with Theresia the old woman and the information she gave them. He told him everything about the fight with the clones who called themselves the "Mu-Team" and that they kidnapped Lioness.

"Now I have the choice. I can give them the dragon in three days and free Lioness or I´ll keep it with me and never see her again", finished Axel and sat down on a chair. Garrett had listened with widened eyes.

"Hm...those copies seem to be very strong. They want to get the pendant in every way. I guess they would kill her if they won´t die themselves", said Garrett.

_Copies?...that could work..._Axel got an idea. Suddenly his face lit up and he smiled. "Garrett, you´re a genius! That´s a great plan!"

"Yes, I know. Ehm...which plan?"

"I´ll give them the dragon and free Lioness", said Axel and grinned.

"Are you crazy? Some moments ago you told me you´d never give them the dragon!", replied Garrett shocked.

"Did I say that I´m going to give them the original?", asked Axel and stood up smiling. Garrett understood. "But how are you going to make a copy?", he asked curious.

"I have an idea...I´ll come later again, see you then!" With this Axel ran out of the room and forgot to close the door.

"But..." Garrett shook his head and closed the door. Axel jumped down the stairs and ran out of the building towards the house of the smith who lived here. Of course there were other smiths of the rebels he knew, but they had no place to work at the moment because they were still building them. Axel met Shark on his way. "Hey, where are you going, dude?", he asked. "No time to explain, see you later!", replied Axel and ran past Shark who looked confused.

In front of the smith´s workshop, knocked at the door and went in. A terrible heat was in the workshop. A fire burned and a lot of hammers and tools hung at the walls. A big and strong, but old man stood behind an ambos and hammered with a big hammer on a gleaming piece of metal. He stopped with his work as he noticed Axel and put the metal back into the fire.

"Who are you and what do you want?", he asked friendly.

"My name is Axel Manning. I wanted to know if you could make a copy of this pendant", replied Axel and showed the kind looking man the dragon. He thought for a moment.

"This is a very detailful work. You´re lucky, some time ago I made bracelets and earrings. Well, before Lee came. Till when do you want to have it ready?" The man went to the fire and watched the metal that gleamed yellow.

"Until tomorrow", answered Axel. The man seemed to be in thoughts. "Is this possible? It is very important", he added. The smith nodded.

"You don´t need to tell me the reason. I can see it´s serious to you. Well...okay, until tomorrow I´ll have the copy. Do you want it made up of pure silver like the original or just covered with silver?", he asked smiling.

"Ehm...Just covered with silver. I think that´s cheaper for me", said Axel.

"Okay, then give me the pendant and I´ll start with my work", said the smith and looked for a piece of metal in a cupboard.

Axel had a bad feeling in his stomach as he gave the pendant to the smith. "Don´t worry, I can see it is very value. I´ll make a drawing of it", he said as he noticed Axel´s worried look. The man took a piece of paper, a pen and started drawing the pendant. He drew every detail and after some minutes he had a picture of the dragon that nearly looked like the original.

"So", he said and gave Axel the pendant back. "I´ll do what I can. Tomorrow at midday you can come and fetch it."

"Thanks", said Axel and left. With a much better mood he wanted to walk back to his room. He felt tired and wanted to get some rest. But then he remembered that Dragon could be still there. And he didn´t want to discuss or even fight witht he ninja. Not this day. With a sigh he went upstairs and stopped in front of his room. He took one last and deep breath in, opened the door quickly and turned a roll into fighting postion. he looked around. None was in his room. Relieved he closed the door and laid on his bed. The sun has started setting.

Before he fell asleep he thought of a way to play a trick on the clones. He wanted to give them the copy of the dragon and escape with Lioness. If they would notice that the dragon was just a copy Axel and Lioness would be gone and in safe. That was the theory. But if it would work was about to see...

**Thanks for reading and don´t forget to review!**


	39. A trick

The trick

The next midday Axel went to the smith. He was excited how the dragon would look like. He opened the door of the workshop and went in. The smith sat on a chair next to a table at the other side of the room, far away from the fire. Nevertheless there was a big heat in the room because the fire was burning. The man polished something small in his hands. As he saw Axel he stood up.

"So, this is the copy. It´s made up of iron and has a covering of silver", he explained and showed Axel the pendant. It looked totally like the real one. "I was wondering...what do you want with a copy of your pendant?", asked the smith.

"I´ll use it to get my friend free, but I want to keep the real one with me. Here´s your money. Thanks for the good work", said Axel and took the copy of the dragon. The smith took the money.

"No problem. It´s like a hobby for me. I discovered it again. When Lee ruled this country I just made weapons like swords or axes. Do you know how boring this is? Always the same...if I produce ornaments and so on I can do what I want. It´s an art and no work", replied the man and smiled.

"Thanks again. Good bye." Axel left the smith´s workshop. Thankfully for the fresh air outside and the cold wind he took a deep breath in. Then he looked at the copy in his hands. This small thing would help him to free Lioness. Now he had to tell his friends about it. He threw the copy into the air and caught it smiling. Then he walked into the castle and searched his friends.

"Why did you tell us to come here?", asked Hawk after they were all in Garrett´s laboratory. Nervous he looked around and watched the bottles with the herbs and liquids distrustful. He didn´t want to turn blue again or worse.

"I have a plan how to free Lioness. I´ll give the clones the dragon", began Axel. The other´s eyes widened. Exept Garrett´s. He knew about the plan yet.

"But then they´ll get what they wanted!", said King surprised and shocked.

"And that´s what _I _want. If they think they have the dragon they´ll let Lioness go...well, I hope so. Then we can escape and too late they´ll notice that I gave them the wrong dragon", explained Axel smiling.

"What do you mean with _wrong dragon_?", asked Shark.

"I mean _this_ dragon." Axel showed them the copy.

"But this is the real one", interrupted King.

"No, get a closer look. Then you see that this one here has a different eye. But this difference is that small that those silly clones won´t notice it in a hundred years. Of course I won´t take the real dragon with me, it´s too dangerous."

"Why just you?"

"Tomorrow I´ll go to the waterfall. I want you to stay here so it isn´t dangerous for you", said Axel.

"No, of course we´ll come with you. You can´t go that easy to the Mu-Team and say _here is the dragon, now I want Lioness back_! Don´t you think it could be a trap? I mean...they use her as a lure. Maybe they want you as their prisoner, too, if they have the dragon. Then there would be none who could stop them. We´ll come with you, if they want to fight we can help you", said King and looked into his best friend´s eyes.

Axel sighed. "Okay...but...", he paused. "Tomorrow we´ll get Lioness back and show these clones what we can do!"

Everyone nodded. With this they made a plan about what they would do the next day if something won´t work. "Well, then let us say, sleep well this night, we need our energry tomorrow", said King smiling.

"And I need my beauty sleep...", said Hawk.

So they all went into their rooms to fall asleep. Axel closed the door behind him and walked over to the window to open it. The warm and fresh air came in. Taking a deep breath in he leaned with his arms on the window frame and looked at the dark sky. The sun had setted moments ago and a half moon stood at the sky. Then his view went over the large fields to the forest where the waterfall was. This forest laid not far away, but was very large. By horse it took half an hour to go to the waterfall. With a sigh Axel laid on his bed and let the window open.

_"Manning! You betrayed us. This is not good for you and worse for your girlfriend", hissed Tilian with anger in his eyes. He threw the copy of the dragon hardly on the ground and kicked it back to Axel who stood a far metres away. His heart began to beat faster as he realized his plan didn´t work. Why did he come alone? Now he wanted to have his friends with him. What a silly idea to come without help, he told himself. But now it was too late. _

_Stingfly hung on the ceiling of the cave behind the waterfall. It was a very large cave. Sharp rocks like columns rose out of the ground and the ceiling. Lioness was tied to one of them with thick ropes. Wrecka stood next to her and stayed sure she couldn´t escape. Very weak Lioness hung on the ropes, she seemed to be passed out. Her hair hid her face, so Axel couldn´t see it. _

_Axel took a step backwards. Behind him the curtain of water rushed loudly, but Tilians voice was louder. "Firekat, Rayza, get him! If we can´t get the dragon we can take him as a little gift for our master", he smirked and tried to stay calm. _

_"What? You need your mates to take me down? Ha, what a loser. But I expected nothing else. You´re too weak to beat me", grinned Axel and tried to provoke his clone. This was a weapon that always worked as well as this time. Tilian hissed an order to Firekat and Rayza and walked slowly towards Axel. _

_"I´m sorry that I cannot kill you", he hissed. _

_"Don´t worry. This will be your smallest problem", smirked Axel and went into fighting position. Suddenly Tilian spat his venom at Axel and nearly hit his face. At the last moment Axel rose his hands and held them in front of his face. The venom hit his arms and paralyzed them. He cursed and Tilian did the same again. This time it hit Axel´s legs. Now he was unable to move. _

_Tilian grinned. "Now you can do nothing, Manning. You will belong us and with this there is none who can stop our master", he explained. _

_"And who is your master?", asked Axel annoyed. It made him angry that Tilian was happy about the situation. _

_"Of course I won´t tell you", hissed Tilian back. Then suddenly Firekat jumped towards him and cut his chest. He fell on the ground in pain and couldn´t move. He cursed something as he looked up at Firekat standing over him. She held her claws at his throat. "Well, I cannot kill you, but I can cause you a lot of pain...and her too if I hurt you", she smiled evilly. Then she grabbed him and threw him against a wall as hard as she could. Axel fell on his knees, his legs collapsed under him and he laid on the ground. _

_The last thing he heard before he passed out was Lioness, crying his name, but couldn´t help him. "AXEL!"_

Axel sat up in his bed. He was bathed in his sweat and breathed very hard. Then he realized that it has been a dream. More a nightmare. He felt a deep fear in him. A fear that he couldn´t save Lioness or protect the dragon. He was afraid that he would fail in his duty and a lot of people could die. If he failed it was his fault if everyone he knew, everyone he loved and everyone he wanted to stay in safe could die.

He stood up and walked over to the window. Thankfully for the fresh wind he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. His heartbeat turned normal again. It was shortly after midnight, the moon was high at the sky and the night was starry. No cloud was in sight. Maybe a good sign for their plan on the next day. Maybe it meant something bad. Who knew? Maybe it was just a peaceful night like there have been so much before.

Suddenly he noticed a shadow outside. It moved very fast from a shadow of a wall to a next one. So it moved through the whole inner ward. Axel frowned. One time, as the shadow was in the light of the moon, he saw a sword reflecting the silver light. "Dragon", mumbered Axel. Quickly he got dressed and jumped onto the window frame. Then he looked around and saw some stones rose out of the outside wall. With a smile he climbed out of his window and slowly down the wall. This was the easiest way to get fast downstairs. His room was on the second floor, so the way was not very long.

He saw Dragon who wanted to leave now. There were still two metres to the ground. Axel climbed the next half metre and jumped down the rest. Quietly he landed on the ground and followed the ninja who was in the near of the gate now. There were no guards on the walls like usual. Maybe Dragon had knocked them out. Axel ran towards the ninja who turned around now.

"What are you doing here? Did your master tell you to kill me just like my father?", shouted Axel angry at Dragon.

"Maybe", replied the dragon-ninja. "But you shouldn´t let your feelings controle your head."

"That´s my problem. Now tell me what you want here!" Somehow Axel got very fast angry in the near of Dragon. It was as if only the near of this Jo-Lan warrior provoked him. "Come on!"

Dragon didn´t reply. _Why isn´t he answering? What is he hiding? And why doesn´t he want to tell me?!_, thought Axel and went into fighting position. As Dragon didn´t answer after some long moments Axel attacked him. He had enough of this stupid games the ninja played. He wanted answers, no silence.

Axel attacked the ninja with a kick, but he ducked. Quickly Axel went to the ground and tried to kick the ninja´s legs. Dragon jumped into the air so Axel missed. After a punch of Axel Dragon grabbed his arm, pulled him towards himself and kicked his legs away. Axel fell on the ground, but turned a roll backwards and was on his feet again. He wanted to use his Jo-Lan, but the ninja did the same. At the same moment they went forewards and their energy waves crashed into each other. A big and bright ball of Jo-Lan energy formed in the middle of them, grew bigger and an energy wave blasted the two warriors into different directions.

Axel could hardly stay on his feet, he slided some metres backwards with one hand on the ground. Dragon turned a backflip and landed on his feet again. Axel was faster than the ninja and started a new attack. He jumped into the air and tried to kick him, but Dragon blocked the attack. Axel blocked three kicks and a punch of Dragon and ducked under another kick of him. He began to sweat and breathed hardly, but ignored it. His father had taught him if he felt tired there was always a little more energy. This way Axel concentrated on the fight and not on his tiredness.

They fought a long time. Sometime Dragon hit Axel, but then Axel hit Dragon and so on. Dragon grabbed Axel´s leg and threw him on the ground. Dust rose into the air and Axel coughed a little. Quickly he stood up again to attack the ninja, but suddenly a voice shouted, "Hey, what´s this noise?"

Both stopped in their movements at once. It came from a window on the second floor of the castle. The Jo-Lan warriors looked up. Hawk looked out of his window, on his face were pieces of a cucumber and a green creme. Dragon looked at Axel.

"Your friend?"

"Yes."

Then another window opened. This time it was Shark´s. "Hey, dude! If you want to shout into the night go somewhere where none can hear you!", shouted Shark angry to Hawk. Hawk got angry, too.

"Or what? I didn´t start with this noise!", he shouted back.

"It doesn´t matter who started, I want you to shut up!"

"Stop shouting you idiot!" Hawk´s face turned red, you could see it under the green creme. He rose his fist into the air and threatened with it.

"You´re calling me an idiot?! I´ll show you something you..." Shark leaned out of the window and threw something that looked like a candle at Hawk. He ducked just in time.

"Hey!" Hawk threw the candle back. It hit the window frame of Shark´s window. "You..."

"Finish your sentence and be prepared for hard pain!", shouted Hawk and iterrupted Shark.

Another window opened. It was King´s window. He leaned out of it and saw Shark and Hawk arguing, shouting and throwing things at each other. "Hey, you guys! Be quiet! Do you know how late it is?!", he shouted annoyed.

"Shut up!", shouted Hawk and Shark at the same moment back.

Now a big argue started. King, Shark and Hawk shouted as loud as they could, sometimes there flew a pillow, a candle or something else through the air and hit someone. That made them more angry. With red heads and hoarse voices they argued. Dragon and Axel stood in the inner ward and watched the happening interested. Then Dragon turned to Axel.

"And these guys are really your friends?", he asked as if he didn´t believe Axel. He nodded and looked at the three guys arguing. Dragon sighed as he noticed another window opened and an angry man shouted at the three guys. Then some more windows opened.

"I think I should better leave now", he just said and threw a smoke bomb on the ground before Axel could stop him. After the smoke had disappeared Axel sighed loudly and looked up at his three friends who now argued with five man and a woman who lived in the castle, too, and wanted to sleep. The silence of the night was filled with their shouts and insults. Somehow Axel had to smile. This situation looked too funny. He shook his head, still smiling, and went back into his room.

He could hear the shouts of the people outside very well, even though the window was closed. He couldn´t sleep, so it didn´t matter if the people outside shout themselves hoarse. Nearly half an hour later they stopped shouting and everything was silent again. With a sigh and thankfully for the silence Axel opened the window, sat down on the window frame and looked out into the dark night. Somewhere out there was Lioness and he was going to free her, that was for sure for him.

**Review please, dudes! Thanks a lot!**

**Ehm...it´s a little embarassing to me, but I have a question to you. If you read this story interested I´m sure you can tell me. Did the rest of the team, I mean King, Shark and Hawk, meat Dragon yet? Just something I wanted to know, it is important for the next chapters!**

**Oh, and specific to this chapter: The dream has no special meaning for the future. It was just something to figure out Axel´s fear of losing Lioness. And that he is afraid his plan could fail. So, I hope you understand this, thanks again for reading and it would be great if you dudes could answer my question!!!**


	40. Importance

Importance

The next morning Axel got up very early. He couldn´t expect playing the trick on the Mu-Team. Shortly after sunrise he got dressed, took the copy of the dragon and hid the real one on a place just he knew. Behind a lose stone in the wall behind the drawer. None would look there, not even Tilian and his team. They were too silly for this, that´s what Axel thought. With a smile and an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach he went out of his room.

The others had wanted to meet him after sunrise. But they didn´t come. So Axel went to their rooms. He opened King´s door and looked in. King was still asleep. Just like Hawk and Shark. Axel sighed and waited another half hour. He thought they would wake up in some time. But they didn´t. A little annoyed he thought for a moment. Then he suddenly started smiling and went away. Some moments later he came back with two big pots, made up of metal. He beat them against each other. The loud noise woke the others up. Shark fell out of his bed, King pressed his pillow on his head and Hawk sat up very quickly. As he wanted to fell back into his bed, his head hit the post of the bed. He growled something and stood up then. The others did, too.

In front of their rooms stood Axel. He had brought the pots away again. He grinned as he saw the tired faces of the guys. "That you can´t sleep because of Lioness was for sure. But do you have to wake up like this?", asked Hawk annoyed.

"It´s half because of Lioness and half because of my Jo-Lan training. I´m always awake that early", smirked Axel. "And yes, I had to wake you up this way, otherwise you would have fallen asleep again."

"Okay, okay. Now we are here. Let´s go", yawned King.

They went downstairs and towards the stablings. The sky was full of grey clouds, the sun wasn´t in sight. Fog laid on the meadows and was everywhere. The small drops of water laid heavy in the air and made white clouds of fog. The horses were not tired. In contrast to their riders. Shark laid his head on the neck of his horse and closed his eyes after a short yawn. Hawk nearly fell out of his saddle. Sometimes he closed his eyes, but then he opened them in shock, as if he tried to do everything not to fall asleep. King yawned one time very long. But he wasn´t as tired as his friends. Axel couldn´t think of sleeping. He just thought of the trick and if it could work. That was a big worry in him.

An hour later they arrived at the waterfall. Normally it would have taken half an hour, but they had never been in that part of the forest, so they lost the way. Now the four guys tied their horses to a tree and talked about their plan one last time.

"Okay, I´ll give them the dragon, we´ll get Lioness back and then let´s disappear as fast as we can!", said Axel. The others nodded. They came closer to the waterfall. The sound of the rushing water was very loud. The waterfall filled a river with the water that came fromt the mountains in summer. It was much weaker in winter, when there was no melting ice in the mountains. Small drops of water rose into the air and looked like a cloud under the waterfall. The teens stood at the riverbank and waited.

They waited a long time, but nothing happened. "Maybe we came on the wrong day?", asked Shark unsure.

"No, I´m sure he meant this day. Three days later. And that is today...I don´t understand it...", replied Axel and looked around. None was in sight.

Lioness woke up shortly after sunrise. She was tied to a stone wall. Thick chains tied her hands and feet to the hard, cold and raspy wall. She hung there for nearly three days. Today was the day Axel would have freed her, if he would come. But he wouldn´t, she knew it. The dragon was more important than her. So she didn´t have any hopes someone would come to free her. She was prepared to be her whole life the prisoner of the clones.

Wrecka sat on the ground two metres in front of her and was her guard. He had the order to let her not go. Lioness sighed. Her arms ached because of the chains and she felt totally weak. She couldn´t move, not even a little. But she had a lot of time to watch the clones and their everyday life. _Very interesting_, she thought in sarcasm. There was a fireplace on the other side of the cave behind the waterfall. But the most time none sat there. The other clones were somewhere else while one of them guarded Lioness. Great.

She sighed again. At the moment Firekat sat at the fire and threw twigs into it. She felt bored, Lioness could see it even in this distance. Her tail moved fore- and backwards while she continued throwing twigs into the hungry flames. This day everyone was in the cave, this was no normal day. They expected Axel´s arriving. Stingfly was somewhere outside and kept watch if someone came nearer. Rayza sat at the fire, too, but he leaned with his back against a small rock and was half asleep. And where was Tilian? Lioness looked around.

Tilian was not far away from her. He leaned with his back against the wall of the cave, his arms crossed in front of his chest. With an absent-minded look he stared at Lioness. _Can clones be in thoughts? It seems so..._, she thought and watched him a little more interested. His red hair shimmered in the light of the fire. One thing that looked creepy on him were his eyes. They were totally red, as red as blood. His face and body looked exactly like Axel´s. Exept the lizard-skin.

"Take a picture if you want to stare at me", said Lioness annoyed to him. He came back from his thoughts and walked towards her.

"Firekat is just like you, always threatening without meanings", he hissed and smirked.

"Thanks for the compliment", said Lioness with sarcasm. "If you think he will come, I tell you, he won´t. The dragon is more important to him than me", said Lioness as she noticed the look Tilian threw to the curtain of water. It rushed very loud.

"Oh, I won´t be so sure of that", he replied. His face came closer to Lioness and he looked deeply into her eyes. This look scared Lioness. She had never seen his eyes that near.

"Do you know that you have bad breath?", she asked in disgust. He just smiled.

"If your friend, excuse me, I mean _boyfriend_, really comes he won´t notice that this is a trap. We cannot kill him, but we can have him as our prisoner...forever", smirked Tilian. Suddenly Stingfly came in and told them that the four guys were in front of the waterfall. Tilian smiled.

He spat some venom into his hand. "Why...?"

"Of course I´m immune to the venom. In contrast to you", he replied. Then he spread the venom on Lioness´s lips. It worked at once. She couldn´t move her mouth, and so she couldn´t speak.

"In case if you wanted to warn them", he grinned and left.

Axel kicked a stone. "What´s wrong here? Why are they not here?", he asked quietly himself. Shark sat on the ground under a tree and leaned with his back against it. He crossed his arms behind his head.

"Maybe they´re hiding somewhere", guessed King and looked around. None was in sight.

"And what if..." Axel thought for a moment. "There could be a cave behind the waterfall", he guessed and looked over to the falling water. The others looked at him with an asking look.

"Let´s have a look at it, dudes, better than just sitting here", said Shark and stood up. They walked over to the waterfall.

"Through this water? It looks so dirty and my hair will get wet if-" Hawk couldn´t finish his sentence. King pushed him through the curtain of water. Then he, Shark and Axel followed him.

On the other side was really a cave. Hawk laid on the ground, his face in the dirt. He rose his head and spat the dirt out of his mouth. "Thanks", he mumbered.

"No problem", replied King smiling. The cave was very big. The water rushed loud and echoed in the cave. The four guys noticed a fireplace on one side of the cave. The fire burned, but none was there. Carefully they looked around. Someone had been here, that was sure. But now these ones were gone. The young men searched Lioness. Axel took a step into the cave. His footstep echoed in the cave. He looked around and tried to see something in the darkness of the cave. The only light spent the fire.

Suddenly he noticed something hanging on the wall. He ran towards it. In the darkness he recognized Lioness. She looked at him with her green-golden eyes. He noticed some tears in them, too.

"Lioness! Are you okay?", he asked happy to see her again. But Lioness just tried to scream. She couldn´t, the green paralyzing venom was still on her lips. Then she tried to move, but the chains were too tight. She was helpless. "What´s up?", asked Axel while he tried to free her. The chains were deeply bored into the stone. King came over to them and helped him, Shark and Hawk followed him. They all pulled at the chains until they got them out of the stone. They continued with the chains around Lioness´s feet. As she was free she fell on to her knees.

"Are you okay?", asked Axel again and knelt down next to her. She shook her head and pointed at her mouth. He noticed some green venom. In her look he saw that she tried desperated to tell them something. Quickly she wiped the venom away, nevertheless she couldn´t speak. Desperated she shook her head, stood up, grabbed Axel´s arm and pulled him towards the exit. But too late. They´ve been seen.

"Where do you think you´re going?", asked a voice behind them. They whirled around and saw the clones standing behind them. They grinned. Tilian took a step towards the teens and grinned. "Thanks to you, Lioness, for being our lure. Without you he wouldn´t have come", said Tilian smiling to Lioness.

"I don´t want to tell you that I told you what would happen, but...", whispered King to Axel.

"Okay, okay, I know it", replied Axel. "And now?"

"You are all our prisoners, I guess you won´t be able to beat us, we´re more than you. Little Lioness is too weak to fight, aren´t you?" Tilian smiled. "Be ready never to see the daylight again!" With this the clones attacked.

**Okay, maybe a little short...Well, I think it´s short cuz I can´t write short stories or chapters. ;-) This is something that annoys me on my character. I CANNOT write something shorter than at least a hundred words. Try to write something in a hundred words in a classtest. What are the teachers thinking, that I´m too stupid to write more? They told me next time if there are too many words it´ll cost me points and will be bad for my mark. Silly rule, but who it likes...not my problem. **

**So, I hope you liked it and please review! ( And to the thing with the characters...I guess there will be ONE more character in this story. Imagine, the endfight is in two months and a half in the story, so I don´t have enough time to bring more than one into this story...well at the moment I can´t think of more than one. So it will be just one other character. Sorry for that. But I tell you: It is an evil guy...)**


	41. Trapped

Trapped

_Somewhere in Landmark:_

She walked down the street towards the market place. Her shoulder-long hair was black, on its end it was colored with red. It was a cold day and her long coat held her warm. Many people passed, but she had just one aim. On the market place she went straight to an old man she knew from a long time ago. As he noticed her he began to smile evilly, like he always did.

"Ah, hello miss. What can I do for you today?", he asked with his creepy smile.

"Hey, Rudy. Some news about the king?", she asked interested.

"You don´t know it? The king is gone, the rebels are ruling now. Some people say that the dragon warrior came and beat the king, Lord Paine and even a moon-dragon! Imagine that!", told Rudy proudly.

"What? Someone beat the king? What happened to him and Lord Paine?", she asked and got a little angry.

"I heard that the king disappeared without a trace...and Lord Paine is in the prison deeply under the castle as far as I know", explained the man.

"Do you know who the dragon warrior is?"

"Yes, I think so. Some people say it is this young man." Rudy showed the woman a piece of paper with the drawn heads of five teens. He pointed at one of them with darkbrown hair and blue eyes. "This paper is very old, it is from the time when the king searched this young people. They brought a message to the rebels in the south here which told them to attack the castle. I´m sure it is this one", said Rudy and saw that the purple eyes of the young woman stared at the man on the paper angry.

Then she gave it back to him. "What is the fastest way to the castle?", she asked with an angry look in her eyes.

"Ehm...by horse. You should use the old road in east and then along the Fiend River. It´ll lead you to a forest, and then you can see it", explained Rudy confused. "But why do you want to get there?"

"I want to visit my dad", she answered and left. She disapppeared in the crowd of people.

"Tilian, listen! I have the dragon so you can let us go!", said Axel.

"Well, you can give me the dragon and then we´ll see", replied the clone. Axel took out the dragon and threw it to Tilian. He caught it and looked at the pendant.

"Hm...so now we have what we wanted. But unfortunately we can´t let you go. Our master wants you to stay here", said Tilian and grinned. Behind him the other clones were ready to fight.

"Who is your master?", asked Axel curious. He hated it if Tilian spoke of his _master._ Who was it? Who cloned the five teens? Who wanted to have the dragon?

"You´ll get to know him later", said Tilian grinning. Then he nodded to the clones behind him and ordered them to attack. The clones did what he told them. While Axel and Tilian stood in opposite of each other, waiting for the other one to attack, Rayza ran towards Shark and tried to punch him. Wrecka wanted to throw King onto the ground as hard as he could and Firekat showed Lioness her claws with a smile. Stingfly flew through the cave and then towards Hawk.

"But I want to know who it is...now", said Axel wenting into fighting position. Tilian shook his head and went into the same fighting position, too. _Why does he know my Jo-Lan movements? Maybe he knows the movements, but he has not my spirit power...nevertheless he has the skills of some reptiles, so we are equally good. Is there really no other way to kill them exept comitting suicide?_, asked Axel himself before he attacked Tilian with a Jo-Lan kick.

"Tilian told me you have a big mouth, but nothing behind it", said Lioness to Firekat. Meanwhile she could speak again. Firekat sat in front of her like a cat, her tail moving fore- and backwards. She grinned and showed Lioness her sharp teeth.

"Well, he´s just like your boyfriend. Maybe he´s our leader, but he´s not as cute as your boyfriend", replied the clone grinning. Lioness went into fighting position and started smiling.

"I´m sorry, kitty, but you´re too late, Axel is no longer single", she said and attacked the cat-like clone.

"What a shame that he´s together with someone like you." Firekat jumped backwards as Lioness tried to kick her. Their moves grew faster and harder in their fight. Lioness kicked, blocked and kicked again very fast, then she turned a somersault and wanted to land behind Firekat. As she landed on the ground she felt a little dizzy because she was still a little weak of hanging on a wall for three days and nights. She shook her head shortly and concentrated. She wasn´t allowed to make a mistake. She wanted to beat her clone who attacked her with a punch now. This punch was blocked.

"Give up, you´ll never look as good as me!", yelled Hawk to Stingfly who flew high above him.

Stingfly growled something. Suddenly he used his ultrasonic-waves to defeat Hawk. The aching sound echoed in the cave. Everyone pressed their hands against their ears and tried to ignore the sound. It was impossible. Shortly after Stingfly stopped a big vibration went through the stone of the cave.

"You fool!", shouted Tilian angry. "The stones will bury us!"

"Get out of here!", yelled Axel, used one last time his Jo-Lan to blast Tilian against a rock and headed for the curtain of water. His friends and the clones followed him. First King jumped through the curtain of water, then Shark and Hawk. Lioness ran towards the curtain, but fell over a stone and she fell hardly on the ground. The walls of the cave vibrated hardly, big stones came down to the ground and broke into a lot of pieces. Some water came through the ceiling of the cave because of the waterfall. Long clafts ran along the walls and the ceiling, water fell down to the ground like rain.

Quickly Axel ran to her and helped her up while the clones still ran towards the curtain of water. They were behind them. Axel lifted Lioness and jumped with her through the water. They landed softly in the cold water of the river and swam to the riverbank. Just in time, the cave beneath the waterfall collapsed at the same moment as they dove into the water.

The water splashed high into the sky, then it fell back into the river and everything was silent again. There was just the rushing water of the river which was full of big rocks. They were the only remains of the waterfall.

King, Shark and Hawk pulled Lioness and Axel out of the cold water. Coughing they fell onto the grass of the riverbank and rested there. They breathed hardly, just like the three guys. Some moments later it started to rain. The clouds were grey, darkgrey and nearly black now, no sun was in sight. The cold drops of water rained down onto the earth. As they hit the ground they broke into a thousand of small waterdrops. They made small circles into the floating water of the river.

"Where...where are the clones?", asked Lioness breathless. She sat up. Axel still laid on the ground and closed his eyes. He breathed heavily and his chest rose and fell very fast. Somehow he felt weak in his legs.

"They´ve been buried under the waterfall, I guess. Or did you see them escape?" King looked at everyone. The teens shook their heads.

"I hope so", said Hawk. "Now I´m the only one who is allowed to look as good as me!"

"But Stingfly didn´t look like you, dude", interrupted Shark.

"So what?"

"Guys, we should go back home now", said Lioness and stood up. But Axel still didn´t move as the others turned to go. He just sat up and looked at the water of the river. The rain ran down his skin and made his hair and clothes wet. King turned to his best friend.

"Aren´t you coming?", he asked worried. Axel stood up. He couldn´t believe it was over, that the clones were gone. This seemed too great to be real. He followed his friends in a distance of one or two metres. Lioness walked a little slowlier so she walked next to him. She took his hand and walked closer to him to lean her head on his shoulder. She felt that his shirt was wet because of the rain, but it didn´t matter to her. Through the clothes she could feel the warmth of his body.

"Why did you give them the dragon?", she asked quietly.

"To get you free, of course", he replied.

Lioness said nothing for a while. Axel wanted to give the Mu-Team the dragon to get her free. She meant more to him than his duty. This made her happy and worried her at the same time. "If I should be honest...I didn´t believe you would come to free me", she said after a while. "I thought you was clever enough to understand that I didn´t want you to give the dragon away. Why did you do it?"

"First of all it wasn´t the real dragon of course. Tilian got a copy", explained Axel.

"And the real..."

"...dragon is hid somewhere only I know", he finished her sentence.

Lioness started to smile. "How clever", she smirked.

"But do you think they´re dead? It´s too good to be true."

"Maybe yes, maybe not. But I hope we´ll never see them again and find out who is behind all that", replied Lioness. Axel wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tight to his body. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment.

"What´s up?", he asked as he noticed Lioness´s look.

"It´s just good to be back. But promise me that you won´t give the dragon away, even if someone wants to kill me. Please promise. This is more important than me", she said.

For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence between them. Then Axel sighed. "I promise", he replied quietly and with a voice that shook a little. He pulled her tighter to his body as if he never wanted to let her go.

**Review:-)**


	42. Silence

Silence

In the next days nothing happened. The Mu-Team didn´t appear. They really seemed to be dead. But the teens still didn´t want to believe it. That sounded too easy.

Axel walked back to the castle in the early midday. He had been in the forest for his Jo-Lan training. Enjoying the light of the warm sun he followed the path through the forest, then he came to the street again and walked along it until he reached the first houses of the village. He walked through the gate of the castle and across the inner ward as he noticed the sound of hooves behind him.

A horse rode through the gate of the castle. It slowed down until it stopped in front of Axel. He looked up at the rider of the black horse. It was a young woman, not older than himself. She had purple eyes and black hair that was colored red at its end. Her hair was shoulder-long and she wore a long, darkgrey coat. She looked at him, first with an emotionless, than with a smiling face.

"Hello, I´m Dr Magness. I want to work here. Ehm...Can you show me the stablings, please?", she asked as she slided elegant out of the saddle and landed next to Axel.

"Of course", he replied and showed her the stablings. She let her horse stay there and turned to Axel. "Do you know who I can ask for work?"

"Ehm...You can ask Garrett, he´s a doctor, too. Or the ex-leader of the rebel-clans. They are the senate now. You can find them on the ground floor, go down the corridor and then the big door at the end of it. You can´t miss it", explained Axel and wanted to leave. He noticed Lioness coming out of the building. He walked towards her and gave her a short kiss on her lips. Magness watched them as she walked into the main building of the castle. _So I found him...that was very easy. Now I have to win his trust. The fact he has a girlfriend makes everything more difficult, but maybe I can destroy their relationship a little..._, she thought as she went through the big door at the end of the corridor.

In the afternoon the five teens decided to go to a lake in the near. Especially Shark thought this idea was great. It was a warm and sunny day, the perfect weather to swim a little. As they walked down the corridor to the stairs they met Magness.

"Wow, who is this?", asked Shark King as he saw the young woman. "Say what you want, but she´s mine", whispered Hawk.

"You didn´t tell me your name as we met the first time", she said to Axel.

"I´m Axel, this is Lioness, this guy is called Shark, this one here is Hawk and his name is King."

"You can call me Magness, if you want...And what are you doing on a sunny day like this one?", she asked and took a step towards Axel. She looked deeply into his eyes. Lioness had a bad feeling in her stomach. This feeling told her that something was wrong with Magness. The way she was looking at Axel worried her.

"We´re going-"

"...to a lake in the near. We wanted to swim a little." Shark interrupted Hawk and finished his sentence to win the attention of Magness. "You can come with us if you want", he added. Magness smiled. Then she looked into Axel´s eyes again. She stood close in front of him. "Is this okay?", she asked. Lioness hoped he would say no. But he didn´t. "Yeah, that would be great", he replied.

So they were at the lake half an hour later. The four guys put off their clothes exept their swimming shorts and ran as fast as they could into the cold water. King, Axel and Shark jumped into the water laughing while Hawk was always in the near of the shore because he couldn´t swim. Nevertheless the cold water was good and refreshed. Lioness put off her pants and shirt under which she wore her green bikini. She followed the guys into the water. Magness wore a black bikini. Shark and Hawk stared at her all time because she looked very good in it.

Lioness swam to Axel and pushed his head under water. Laughing he came up again and tried to get her, too. But she swam away, so he followed her. As he was close enough he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her under water. In the clear water he saw her green-golden eyes looking at him. She smiled and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes and gave him a long kiss under water. As they needed to get air again they broke the kiss and came up.

The whole afternoon Magness waited for a chance to come closer to Axel. Making him fall in love with her would be very difficult, nearly impossible. He was head over heels in love with Lioness. She saw it in his eyes. But what if it looks like as if he liked Magness, too? He need´t like her, but if she kissed him in front of Lioness she would think he finished with her. That was the theory, but the reality looked different. Axel was always around Lioness, she didn´t let him alone. So Magness had to wait for the perfect moment.

As the evening came and the sun setted they all laid on the grassy shore and looked at the cloudless sky.It was colored red, yellow and orange because of the sunset, far in the east the sky became darkblue yet and some stars appeared.

Lioness laid close next to Axel. Somehow there was still this feeling in her stomach. It was very weak, so she ignored it. But now...Magness seemed to lie close to him, too. A little too close for Lioness..."We should go home now", she said after a while and sat up. They got dressed and walked back to their horses. Suddenly Magness fell over a stone and grabbed Axel´s arm to not fall down. He caught her.

"Oh, I´m so sorry", she said and stood up again.

"It´s okay", replied Axel just and smiled. Lioness felt this feeling again. Just a little stronger. She was sure this girl wanted something from Axel. And she was sure it was not the dragon. The way she wanted to get his attention annoyed her. Over the whole day she had been around Lioness and Axel and sometimes Lioness saw in her face that she wanted to be alone with him. Lioness shook shortly. _He would never leave me...wouldn´t he?_, she asked herself in her mind as she watched Magness walking close to Axel.

They had no horses because they´ve walked to the lake. King and Shark led the group, behind them walked Hawk and at the end were Axel, Magness and Lioness. Lioness took his hand and walked as close to him as she could. Magness was very close to him, too. The whole way home Lioness felt this annoying and terrible feeling in her stomach that told her something was wrong with the girl. Now it was a little stronger than before.

Magness got the job as a doctor in the castle. Everyone in the senate found the idea great because there weren´t many doctors in the area. So she got the job. She moved into the castle. This made Hawk and Shark very happy because they had a crush on her. In the whole first week they tried to get her attention as much as they could. One day Hawk showed her the castle, another day Shark showed her the village and went with her to the town. If they wanted to do something on the same day the guys started arguing, but Magness did something with them together.

Lioness watched all this with a distrustful look in her eyes. Magness won the trust of Shark, Hawk, King and Axel very fast and became their new friend. But Lioness was still careful. Something was wrong with her. She knew it.

So another week passed. There were two months left to the constellation of stars for the dragon. But the Mu-Team hasn´t appeared yet.

At the late evening Axel went out of his room. Suddenly he ran into Magness who stood behind him. "I´m sorry", he just said and wanted to go away. But she took his hand and turned him towards her. "What´s up?", he asked confused.

"Can you feel this? There is a magnetic power between us", she whispered and came closer to him. Now was the perfect moment. He was alone, but Lioness must be somewhere around. If she came back...

"No, I don´t feel anything. Listen, I´m together with Lioness", he replied and wanted to leave. She didn´t let him go. His heart beat faster. Not because he felt any feelings for this girl, but because he was nervous Lioness could see him standing close to Magness. He knew she didn´t like her. She had told him something was wrong with Magness.

The door of Lioness´s room opened and Lioness stepped out. Suddenly Magness wrapped her arms around Axel´s neck and lifted her head. She kissed him. Surprised and shocked he tried to push her away as their lips touched, but too late. Lioness watched the scene with wide opened eyes. Finally Magness broke the kiss and Axel pushed her away. Lioness shook her head shocked and turned around. Quickly she ran down the corridor and to the stairs.

Her heartbeat raced and she felt some tears coming into her eyes as she ran out of the castle, through the gate of the inner ward. She didn´t know where she ran, she just wanted to get away. Just away from Axel and Magness. She ran and ran until she breathed heavily and her heartbeat was very fast. In her stomach was a bad feeling, a mix of jealousy and sadness and maybe a little anger and hate. She stopped running but kept on walking as fast as she could.

As she was in the forest she walked a little slowlier. She sat down on the ground under a large tree next to the river and pulled her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her knees and watched with an absent look the floating river. It was very dark now. The sun had setted an hour ago and now there was a starry sky over the forest. There was no moon this night so it was darker than normally. The temperature became colder. If the sun was gone there was no warmth. But it was end of spring, so the nights were warmer than before.

Lioness´s eyes filled with tears and her view became blurry as she buried her head in her knees. Silently she cried. _Why did he kiss her? Why did he betray me? I feel so...silly..._, she thought and wiped the tears out of her face. But it was useless, her eyes filled with new ones. A tear ran down her cheek and fell without a noise onto the grassy ground. Her heartbeat slowed down, but her breath was still fast. She couldn´t calm down, so she cried.

"Lioness." A weak whisper behind her let her wince. She didn´t turn around as she recognized Axel´s voice. She knew he stood behind her. At once her eyes filled with tears again. Her heart felt so broken as if it fell on the ground and broke into a thousand of pieces. He made everything worse. The picture of him and Magness kissing was still in her head and didn´t let her go.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She didn´t move. "Go away", she hissed annoyed and with a shaking voice. She was shocked how angry her voice sounded. But it was exactly the meaning she wanted to have. Lioness didn´t want him to be around, she wanted to be alone.

"Let me explain, it wa-"

"Which part of _go away_ was too complicated for you?!", she shouted and stood up. She looked hateful and deeply into his clear blue eyes which looked prayfullyinto hers. She couldn´t stand this look and turned around to go. He took her hand gently and turned her to him. "Please listen", he said quietly in with a gently voice. He didn´t want to make her more angry, so he stayed calm.

"Why should I listen to you?", she asked still annoyed, but a little more quietly.

"Because I´m serious. I didn´t want to hurt you. I´m so sorry...", he said quietly as if it was not allowed to speak louder than he did. Lioness looked deeply into his eyes. Then she suddenly turned around. He let her hand go. She walked away, leaving him alone in the dark forest. She didn´t turn around to see he stared at her in sadness. As she was gone Axel leaned his back against the tree and sank to the ground where he closed his eyes and noticed the silence around him. No noise was there, just silence. Exept the water of the river that floated very slowly its way.

**Hmmm...normally I would say something in this line, but I don´t know what. The usual things are "please review" or "thanks for reading". A little boring, isn´t it? Okay, let´s think of something more interesting...**

**...sorry, but I don´t get an idea. sigh, then let´s come to the usual things: Please review, dudes!!! **

**Okay? Great, so, I´ll update the next chapter as fast as I can:P**


	43. Distrust

Distrust

Magness smiled as Axel ran into the direction Lioness was gone to. Her plan worked. Poor Lioness was jealous and now angry of course. But Magness hoped she wouldn´t forgive Axel. He didn´t deserve it. He had done something he had to pay for. There was no place for a girlfriend who makes him happy. No, he deserved it to be depressive and sad for the rest of his life.

And now was the perfect moment to do what she had wanted the whole time. Now Axel was busy and there was no real enemy to defeat to get what she wanted. Smiling she went down the corridor.She walked down the stairs to the prison deeply under the castle. It was a long way, the stairs didn´t seem to end. As she finally reached the prison she met four guards in front of a heavy wooden door. They crossed their lances in front of the door and blockaded her way.

"Oh please, guys, you´re serious? Let me pass please", she said and placed her left hand on her hip. She smiled evilly.

"I´m sorry, miss, but you´re not allowed to go through this door", said one of the guards.

"Well, then..." She suddenly noticed they wore armours. Made up of metal. _Perfect_, she thought happily and rose her right hand into the air. Her eyes began to glow purple and suddenly the four guards began to float slowly through the air. They tried to move, but they couldn´t. Magness moved her hand shortly in a circle and then away from her. The guards flew in a circle through the air and were sent to a wall where they passed out.

"Too easy", she smirked and opened the heavy door with one short wave of her hand. The lock was made up of metal, so she didn´t need a key. She stepped through the door and stood in a long, dark corridor. She walked down the corridor. A lot of the cells were empty. Just one of them was guarded. She headed for this cell and stopped in front of the guards who looked at her in distrust.

"You´re not allowed to be here", said one of the three guards.

"Why are you here in this deep and creepy hole? Why aren´t you outside in this warm night?", asked Magness innocent and smiled.

"We got the order of Mr Manning to guard this prisoner. He is very dangerous", replied one of them.

"Oh no, he isn´t dangerous. You have to be careful around _me_." She rose her hand and the three guards started floating in the air. In panic they screamed and moved their arms and legs. Magness sent them against a wall where they passed out, too. She waved her hand shortly and the iron bars of the cell bent so that a hole appeared. Magness walked over to the hole and looked at the prisoner in the cell.

"I guess you want revenge", she said smiling evilly. The prisoner stood up and walked slowly towars her. He started smiling, too.

"That´s my little girl", smirked Paine and stepped out of his cell to start with his revenge on Axel Manning.

"Axel?" As he heard his name he turned around. Lioness stood a few metres away from him. She came nearer to him and sat down next to him. She leaned her back against the tree.

"You´re serious, aren´t you?", she asked quietly and didn´t look at him. Axel nodded.

"I love you too much to betray you, Catalina", he whispered. Suddenly Lioness fell around his neck and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight to his body as he fell back. Lioness knew he was serious because he normally never used her real name. This was the first time.

"Thanks", she said and broke the kiss. "So it was just a misunderstanding?" He nodded and looked into her beautiful green eyes.

"Let´s go back home", he said and stood up. He pulled her up to him. They walked back to the castle. Lioness walked as close as she could to Axel. She was happy that it was just a misunderstanding. She was happy to be together with him again. Lioness leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes to enjoy his near.

Nearly at midnight they arrived at the castle. They had seen the lights from very far away. As they walked through the gate Axel suddenly stopped. "Something´s wrong here...there are no guards", he said to Lioness and looked around.

"Manning, you´re really too blind to see them."

Axel winced as he heard this noise. He turned around and saw Paine standing behind him. Next to him stood Magness. Both smiled evilly. Paine crossed his arms in front of his chest and smiled. He looked over to something. Axel followed his look and saw five guards lying on the ground, passed out. Then he looked at Paine again. Slowly the hate came up in him and every muscle in his body strained. Maybe he hadn´t killed Axel´s father, but nevertheless he deserved it to stay in prison for the rest of his life.

Magness walked over to Axel and Lioness. Both didn´t move. Axel´s hand formed fists. Hardly he ignored the instinct to punch her without thinking. She placed her hand on his shoulder and clung her body to his. He still didn´t move and didn´t look at her. His look laid still on Paine.

"This was not nice of you to do this to my daddy", she whispered into his ears. Axel´s eyes widened, but he still didn´t move. As if he was glued to the ground. Magness was Paine´s daughter? Suddenly he felt disgust coming up in him as he thought of their short kiss.

Magness walked over to Lioness. She stopped in front of her. "It was very easy to make you jealous." She sighed. "Guys are so easy to manipulate", she said and looked at Axel. "But unfortunately _you_ was there and made everything more difficult. Nevertheless it worked", she smiled evilly and took a few steps backwards.

Axel growled quietly. In his inside he was that furious that he could hardly ignore the feeling in his belly that told him to attack Paine and his daughter. His mind told him something different. As Paine grinned evilly Axel couldn´t stay calm. He ran towards him and attacked him with a kick. Paine blocked this and ducked under another kick. Axel whirled around and kicked Paine three times while he was in the air.

"Maybe you didn´t kill my father, but this is no reason why you should be free", growled Axel as he landed on the ground.

Lioness attacked Magness. It didn´t matter to her if Magness could fight or not. She just wanted to hurt her. To her surprise Magness blocked her kicks easily. She moved a little faster. She jumped into the air, whirled around and kicked her three times while she was in the air, just like Axel did before. Suddenly the girl grabbed Lioness´s leg and threw her hardly on the ground. With a roll she was on her feet again and ran towards Magness. She went to the ground, slided over it to kick her legs, but Magness jumped into the air and landed behind Lioness. With one jump she landed on Lioness´s shoulders, grabbed her shirt and used her own weight to throw her away.

Unfortunately she hit the wall and fell onto her knees. As she looked up she saw Magness smiling and slowly walking towards her. "Unfortunately you´re not wearing any metal, it would be fun to see you flying through the air like a ball", she grinned.

Lioness was confused. Metal?

"Yes, I have magnetic powers since birth", explained Magness.

Lioness stood up and attacked her again. As her attack was blocked she took a few steps backwards. Her back hit something. It was Axel´s back. He stood in fighting position behind her.

"Let´s switch", she said to him. Axel just nodded and made a backflip to land in front of Lioness. Quickly he turned around to kick Magness who stood behind him now. She blocked his kick. Meanwhile Lioness fought with Paine. Axel wanted to use his Jo-Lan to blast her away, but the energy wave didn´t come. He was close in front of Magness and looked confused at his hands. Magness used this confusion to kick his legs away. He fell onto the ground.

"Is you Jo-Lan not working?", she asked smiling. He looked up at her. "Because of the magnetism around me it won´t work", she explained. Axel looked angry at her and suddenly he kicked her legs. She fell on the ground, too. Meanwhile Axel stood up again. Magness stood up and turned a somersault. She landed behind him, grabbed his shirt, kicked his legs away and threw him away. For a short moment he could look into her purple eyes. Then he hit the wall of the inner ward and fell onto his knees. He struggled to stand up and based himself at the wall.

Axel breathed heavily. While Magness walked towards him to attack him another time he looked over to Lioness. She fought hardly with Paine and avoided his hands which tried to grab her head all the time.

One moment Axel was unconcentrated and Magness grabbed his shoulders. She threw him hardly against the wall. Suddenly he saw nothing, his view became blurry and he nearly passed out. As she kicked him he couldn´t move and tried not to pass out, but unfortunately he did.

Magness turned around and saw Lioness fighting with her father. She rose her hand and suddenly three swords flew out of the smith´s workshop towards Lioness. She reacted too slowly and the weapons bored through their clothes into the stony wall of the inner ward. Lioness hung at the wall and couldn´t move. Magness stood in front of her and grinned. Lioness saw Paine standing over Axel.

He grabbed Axel´s shirt and lifted him so that their faces were on the same high. Lioness wanted to do something. Paine wanted to give Axel some of the pain. But before he could suddenly a shuriken cut Axel´s shirt where Paine had grabbed it. Axel fell onto the ground again and Paine held a piece of his shirt in his hands. Angry and surprised he looked around. Suddenly a shadow came out of nowhere, kicked Paine so that he fell a few metres backwards and landed on the ground in front of Axel. It was Dragon.

Dragon threw a shuriken towards Magness, but she just rose her hand and her eyes glowed purple. The shuriken stopped in the middle of the air, then it flew back towards Dragon. The ninja took out his sword and hit the shuriken with it, so it fell onto the ground. As he saw Paine wanted to stand up he threw his sword and it bored through Paines clothes into the ground. The sword went through the right arm of his shirt.

Then the ninja attacked Magness. He kicked her and blocked her attacks. Dragon jumped towards her, placed his feet against her chest and jumped backwards with a backflip. Before he landed on the ground he took one of the swords out of the wall where Lioness was and threw it towards Magness. While she stopped the sword in the middle of the air Dragon pulled the other two swords out of the wall and Lioness fell onto the ground. Quickly she stood up.

Lioness saw that Magness let the swords flew towards Dragon. He held two swords in his hands. He jumped foreward, turned a somersault and hit the sword in the middle of the air. It fell onto the ground with a loud noise. Dragon landed quietly in fighting position. The swords were still in his hands and he aimed at Magness. He didn´t move. "Go and help your friend", he ordered Lioness.

Lioness nodded and ran quickly over to Axel. She tried to wake him up. "Axel, wake up! There´s no time now to sleep! AXEL!" She hit his cheeks with her hands to wake him up. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, but he still didn´t wake up. Lioness saw Dragon still standing there in fighting position, Magness in front of him. Her eyes glowed purple, she rose her arms and the swords started to fly out of Dragon´s hands. She aimed at Lioness. The first sword flew towards her. In the last moment she pulled Axel out of the way. The sword bored into the ground. The second one flew faster. Lioness grabbed Axel´s shirt and jumped with him out of the way. The sword hit her right arm and cut her shirt. There was no wound.

"Wake up!", she shouted at Axel as she saw Paine standing up and walking over to them. _Why isn´t here any water?_, she thought and looked around. Next to the stablings stood a bucket. Quickly she ran over to it, grabbed it while she ran and came back to Axel. "If this doesn´t work we´ll have a problem", she said to herself and tiped over the bucket. The cold water hit Axel in his face and he sat alarmed up.

"We´re lucky", said Lioness relieved and helped him up. As Paine attacked them she pushed Axel, who was still confused and didn´t know where he was, out of the way so Paine missed.

Seconds later Axel was really awake again and turned a backflip. He landed next to Dragon. "What are you doing here?!", he asked first confused, then angry. Suddenly Magness attacked them and they both made three times a flik-flak backwards. They ran towards her, jumped into the air and kicked her one time. As she blocked both made a backflip and landed in fighting postion.

Dragon kicked her, but she blocked. Now his left side was turned to her. He noticed Axel running towards Magness from his right side, so he bent a little. Axel jumped over him, placed his hands on the ninja´s back and kicked Magness as hard as he could. Surprised she fell one or two metres backwards. Axel landed on the ground in fighting position. He was surprised that he ninja had helped him.

The Jo-Lan warriors looked to Paine and Lioness who fought behind them. While Magness laid on the ground they helped Lioness. Dragon ran towards Paine, went to the ground and slided over it to kick his legs. Paine jumped into the air as he noticed the attack. Axel used this moment as Paine was in the air to kick him. He couldn´t block, so he flew agains the next wall.

"Great teamwork", cheered Lioness. She breathed heavily, but she smiled at the two. Axel said nothing and turned his back towards the ninja and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I´ll never work together with _him_", he said. Lioness just giggled.

"First of all you did some seconds ago. And you´re really cute if your sulking", she smirked.

"I don´t want to disturb you, but..." Dragon pointed at Magness who was now a few metres behind them. And Paine came from the other side. Axel, Dragon and Lioness went into fighting position.

"We´ll take care of Paine. Can you finish her alone, Li?", asked Axel.

"It would be a pleasure to me to kick her little ass", grinned Lioness and ran towards Magness to attack her.

"What about three kicks on his chest and then a half turn to the right with two kicks, right and left?", asked Axel. Dragon went into fighting position and nodded. "Sounds good, it could work. Then I´ll try to hit his legs, same thing like some moments ago", agreed Dragon.

"Then good luck", said Axel and they both ran towards Paine. At the same moment they jumped into the air, kicked him very fast three times, landed shortly on the ground, jumped again and turned right in the air while they kicked Paine first with their right, then with their left legs. Shortly after they toched the ground they made two times a flik-flak backwards at the same time. Every move they did was synchronous. Dragon ran towards Paine, slided over the ground and kicked his legs. He missed as Paine jumped into the air.

Too late the man noticed it was the same attack as some moments ago. Axel seemed to come out of nowhere, kicked Paine as hard as he could and landed elegant on the ground. Paine hit the wall again, this time a little harder and fell onto his knees. Dragon and Axel stood in front of him. Axel looked hateful at Paine.

"Game over", he said growling. He wanted to use his Jo-Lan to finish Paine forever, but Dragon placed his hand on Axel´s shoulder and shook his head.

"He didn´t kill your father. Killing him won´t bring your father back and it won´t make you feel better. Moreover you shouldn´t use Jo-Lan to kill someone, just to protect the ones who are innocent and who need protection", explained Dragon. Axel relaxed a little. They wanted to help Lioness and went over to her.

Suddenly Paine attacked them from behind. Axel reacted fast enough and kicked Paine. He fell a few steps backwards, but was still on his feet. Axel attacked him furious with another kick. He tried to punch him, but the punch was blocked. He went to the ground and kicked Paine´s legs. Paine himself jumped into the air so Axel missed. Axel went faster. He kicked and punched as fast as he could, sometimes he ducked or turned a backflip to avoid Paine´s attacks. With one kick he sent Paine a few steps backwards, but unfortunately he was still on his feet.

Axel ran towards his enemy and used an energy wave of Jo-Lan. This energy wave was much bigger than normal and his eyes glowed red, not blue. This move was very fast and Paine couldn´t do anything. He was sent against the wall that hard that some stones fell onto the ground. He didn´t move.

Surprised Axel looked at his hands. "Did...I kill him?", he asked after a moment of silence. Dragon shook his head. "No, he´s still alive. You should be careful with your power", he replied. "I waited for this moment, you reached a higher level of Jo-Lan. That shows you´re training very good." Axel was that furious that he didn´t notice the ninja´s voice sounded a little proud.

"Good, then I´ll be stronger next time I fight you", said Axel shortly and ran over to Lioness to help her. Dragon sighed and followed him.

Magness smiled evilly as she saw the three in front of her. Lioness breathed hardly and had sweat on her forehead. She turned a backflip and landed in fighting position. Next to her stood Axel and Dragon. Magness rose her arms and her whole body began to glow purple. From the smith´s workshop and from the knocked out guards flew weapons towards her. Swords, axes and lances. She collected them behind her, they pointed at the three. Then Magness waved her hands and the weapons flew towards her three enemies.

There were at least ten swords, four lances and five or six axes which flew towards the two Jo-Lan warriors and Lioness.

**Sorry for the terrible cut here, this chapter is really long, but I didn´t know any other moment to end it. So the end of this chapter is here now, hope you liked it! **


	44. Inferno

Inferno

At the same moment Axel, Lioness and Dragon turned flik-flaks backwards so that the weapons bored into the ground where they had stood. They landed in fighting position and waited for Magness to attack.

"Aiming is not your strength", said Lioness grinning.

"You´re just lucky. Next time your luck won´t last that long", replied Magness and smiled evilly.

"What are you going to do now? You can´t fight us three and your little daddy is not able to help you." Lioness´s voice sounded provoking. Magness´s face turned a little more serious and her smile disappeared. Axel and Dragon stood still in fighting position behind Lioness. They wanted to attack Magness, but Lioness shook her head.

"This is my fight", she said to them. Confused the Jo-Lan warriors let her do. Lioness ran towards Magness. She attacked her with a kick. She missed because Magness ducked. Lioness fought hardly, but she was still a little weak of the fight before. Magness had still her full powers because she had used her magnetic powers before and it hadn´t cost a lot energy.

One moment Lioness was unconcentrated and Magness grabbed her right arm. She pulled her to her body, kicked her legs away and threw her hardly away so that she fell onto her knees. Axel wanted to help her, but Dragon held him back. "Don´t you think she want to fight alone?", he asked. Axel didn´t answer and watched the fight with strained muscles. He had wanted to help Lioness, but he knew she wanted to finish the girl alone.

Lioness stood up as fast as she could. She went into fighting position and waited for Magness to attack her. Suddenly Magness used her magnetic powers and one single sword was pulled out of the ground behind Lioness. Lioness herself was too concentrated on her enemy to notice it. Just as she saw Magness´s eyes glowing purple she noticed it. But a little too late. The sword floated behind her in the air, aiming at her back.

The sword flew towards her. One or two inches before it hit her back in high of her heart someone jumped towards her and pushed her to the ground so that the sword missed its aim and bored into the ground. Axel knelt over Lioness and looked into her eyes. He noticed she was a little shocked. Her heart hammered against her chest and she breathed hardly. He took her hand and helped her up. "Thanks", she said quietly.

He just nodded and looked over to Magness. "It´s my turn now", he smiled at Lioness and turned around to fight.

But before he could start an attack suddenly guards came out of the castle. They formed a circle around Magness and Axel and pointed with their lances at her. But Magness just smiled evilly. "Hey, fifteen guards and you three against one? How unfair...for you!" She rose her arms and let the lances flew high into the air. The guards looked confused and surprised and as the lances flew towards them they ran scared away. Magness used her magnetic powers again and let the guards fly through the air. They wore armors made up of metal, the perfect victims.

Axel tried to use this moment of unconcentration and attacked Magness. She was faster than him and let three guards flew towards him. Axel tried to catch them, but the first one hit him on his chest so he fell onto the ground and was buried under the three heavy men. Quickly he tried to push them away. He made it and attacked Magness with a kick. She blocked it and grabbed his shoulders. With a strong throw she threw him into the wall of the stablings. The wood broke under his weight and he landed in the straw.

Slowly Magness walked towards him. Lioness thought quickly. _Magnetism..._She got an idea. "Axel!", she shouted. He looked up at her, his view was still a little blurry because of the crash. "You need fire! Heat weakens magnetism!"

_What a chance_, he thought smiling and noticed a torch not far away from him. That he laid in straw was very useful, but the horses. He waited until Magness was close enough. Then he stood up as fast as he could and grabbed the torch. Magness stood in now some metres behind him in the small corridor of the stablings. The horses snuffled in panic as they saw the fire of the torch.

"Sorry, guys", said Axel to them and dropped the torch. The straw started burning at once. Then he opened the boxes of the horses. Fortunately this was just one separated builing of the stablings with about twenty horses. Maybe they all could escape. After opening three boxes Magness stood in his way. She tried to use her magnetism, but it didn´t work. Axel just grinned. He turned a somersault and landed behind her. Quickly he ran down the corridor, opened each box and made as much noise as he could.

The animals went crazy as they saw the flames and smelled the smoke. As fast as they could they ran down the corridor towards the open door. Magness stood in their way, but it didn´t matter to them. She jumped out of the way, otherwise the horses would have ran over her. As they were gone dust and smoke were in the air and prevented a clear view.

Axel saw Magness standing in front of him. "Maybe you weakened the magnetism, but you can´t beat me", she said.

"That´s about to see, the heat makes my Jo-Lan stronger and weakens your magnetism. I would say, clear advantage for me", replied Axel.

She attacked him. The corridor was not very wide, so Axel couldn´t block very well. He took a step backwards as Magness used a kick. He waited for the perfect moment to use his Jo-Lan. But at the moment she moved a little too fast. She turned a somersault, landed behind him, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him tight to her body. "What a shame, you´re a cute guy, but unfortunately I have to kill you", she whispered into his ear before she kicked his legs away. He fell hardly onto the ground.

Flames licked at the dry wood of the stablings. The straw in the boxes of the horses began to burn within seconds and the whole building burned after some minutes. The smoke became more black and Axel coughed hardly. He had tears in his eyes because of the smoke and couldn´t see very well. The heat was terrible. He sweated and saw the burning roof over him. It was just a question of seconds when it would collapse and bury him and Magness.

He turned a roll and went into fighting position again. As Magness wanted to attack him again, he moved forewards. His eyes glowed red and an energy wave of Jo-Lan blasted Magness away. She flew towards the wall at the end of the stabling and the weak wood broke under her weight. She landed under the free sky in the inner ward.

Lioness and Dragon watched the scene. Lioness´s eyes widened as she saw the stabling started to burn and the black smoke rose high into the sky. As Magness broke through the wall she got worried. The flames were now everywhere and people ran out of the castle to see what was up. As they saw the flames they fetched buckets with water as fast as they could.

But nearly a second after Magness flew out of the building the roof and the walls collapsed because of the flames. With one cracking sound the roof fell onto the ground, glowing sparks rose high into the sky and the smoke became more. The flames grew higher and seemed to be happy that the building had collapsed. They licked at the dry wood and at the straw.

Lioness couldn´t believe what she saw. Axel had still been in the stabling, now he was buried under the burning wood. Everything around her seemed to disappear as she sank onto her knees. She watched everything with widened eyes, the busy people who ran to the inferno and tried to put it out, the shouts of them to be careful, the cracking sound of the wood that disappeared in the flames and turned to ash.

She still couldn´t believe it. How could he die in a burning inferno? Why did he have to die? He didn´t deserve such an end. Lioness was that absent-minded and shocked that she didn´t notice a tear ran down her cheek and fell onto the ground.

**Okay...maybe a little short...Nevertheless please review! **


	45. Comeback

Comeback

Lioness didn´t notice the noise around her. The people shouted and tried to put out the big fire. Meanwhile a lot of guards took Paine and Magness who had both passed out away. Dragon stood still next to her. He seemed to watch the scene uninterested as if nothing had happened. Then he knelt down next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with confusion in her look.

"Look", he just said and pointed at the fire. Then he stood up. Lioness stood up, too. There was something in the flames...no, in front of the flames! It wasn´t someone who wanted to help putting out the fire. He walked very weakly and seemed to tipe over in every second. The light of the fire was too bright so Lioness could just see his contour. Her face lit up as she recognized whose contour it was.

She ran towards him and fell around his neck to hug him. Lioness was too heavy for him, so he fell onto the ground. Axel smiled weakly as he saw Lioness knelting over him. "That was a narrow escape, I nearly died like my father", he tried to smile. His face was full of dirt and ash and sweat was on his forehead. On some places his shirt and pants were a little burned and black. But all in all he was not hurt.

As he tried to stand up he coughed hardly. The smoke was still in his lungs and ached as he breathed. He could feel the heat of the fire behind him, here at the fresh air it was very cold for him. But this cold was good. He failed as he wanted to stand up and sank to the ground. "Are you okay?", asked Lioness worried and wiped the tear out of her eye. He nodded. "I just need to rest for a moment", he replied and tried to smile.

He laid down on the ground and looked up at the starry sky. Lioness knelt down next to him. Dragon stood a little apart and watched them, he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Lioness smiled and gave Axel a short kiss. His skin felt still a little hot, but turned colder with every second until its temperature was normal again. "But how...? I mean, I...saw you! You didn´t come out of the building", began Lioness and looked into his clear blue eyes which looked into hers.

Axel began to smile. "I could escape shortly after it collapsed. There was a box of a horse and I hid in it, I had luck, the wood didn´t fall down on it so I could escape just in time", he explained. Then he tried to stand up again. This time he made it. He stood weakly on his legs, Lioness helped him not to fall down again. After some seconds he could stand alone.

"You should thank him", she whispered to him. She meant Dragon who still stood a few metres away and looked at them. Axel´s mood changed totally at once. His face turned serious.

"Why should I? His master killed my father, so I won´t thank him for anything", he said to Lioness with an annoyed voice. She looked at him angry. This look shocked him. Her face was very serious and she looked over to Dragon. Then again at Axel. Her look told him everything. He sighed. "Okay...but just this one time", he said and gave up. Slowly he walked over to the ninja. One reason was that he couldn´t walk very well and that he was still weak on his legs. The other reason was that he didn´t want to thank the ninja.

"Ehm...I...", he began and didn´t look at the ninja. He rubbed his neck with his right hand. It embarassed him to say _thank you_ to the man who worked for the murderer of his father. "Thank you", said Axel finally and looked at Dragon who just nodded.

"I think I´ll go now. Here are too many people for me, I prefer it to stay alone", replied Dragon and turned to go. With some big jumps he was on the wall of the inner ward and disappeared behind it. Axel watched him until he was gone. Lioness walked over to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder. He took her hand and turned to her. Behind her the people had put out the fire, now there was a giantic cloud of smoke that rose high into the air. The wood has turned into ash and where the stabling had stood was a hill of ash and burned wood.

Then the rest of the team arrived. King, Shark and Hawk ran towards the two, their faces were full of dirt and they had sweat on their foreheads. "We helped to put out the fire. Are you two okay?", asked King. Both nodded.

"Wow, dude, your looking like as if you´ve been buried under a ton of ash!", noticed Shark and looked at Axel´s face.

"Ehm...Shark, he WAS buried under the stabling", said Lioness.

"Oh."

"Okay, I guess we should go to bed again. We can´t help now", said Axel after a moment of silence.

They all went into their rooms. Axel had a bath before he went to bed. Tired he fell into his bed and stared at the ceiling for some while. Moments later he fell asleep. This night he saw himself in the burning stabling again. His dream seemed so real, he felt the heat on his skin, the burning roof falling down on him. The smoke came into his lungs and his eyes filled with tears because of the thick and black smoke. This night he couldn´t sleep very well. He woke up very often and stayed awake for long times. Shortly before sunrise he fell into a deeper sleep than the hours before and this time he didn´t dream of a burning hell.

_**One month and a week later:**_

"Axel? Are you there?" Lioness knocked at his door. In the last time he had been more nervous, unconcentrated and absent-minded. She knew something was wrong with him, but he hand´t told her. Now she was going to find it out.

His door opened. "What´s up?", he asked. His eyes looked a little tired.

"That´s what I wanted to ask you", she replied. He looked confused. Lioness sighed. "Do you want to go for a walk with me?", she asked finally. Axel just nodded.

They went downstairs and left the castle. They followed the street until it ended in a small path into the forest. Till they reached the forest none said a word. Sometimes Axel rubbed his eyes and yawned a little. He seemed to be very tired. Lioness walked next to him and felt he had changed. He was more nervous and annoyed in the last week. It was all because of the dragon, there were just three weeks left to the star constellation. If he could protect the dragon three other weeks everything would be over for the next twothousand years or so.

But she had changed, too. Somehow she had felt more often sick, nervous and annoyed in the last time. And she didn´t know why. Lioness tried to make the mood between them better and took his hand. She walked closer to him and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Tell me, what´s wrong?", she asked after a long moment of silence.

"Imagine, three weeks and everything will be over!", he replied. "I´m just nervous something could happen in this time. Our clones didn´t appear since about a month, Paine and his daughter are in the prison and well guarded. I don´t know anyone who could appear now to get the dragon. And Dragon...I don´t think he would try to get the dragon. He´s a Jo-Lan warrior and understands that I have to protect it. He won´t try it. Nevertheless, I have a bad feeling something could happen, something we didn´t expect."

Lioness nodded. Then there was silence again. None said a word. They followed the river until they reached the place where the waterfall has been.

"I cannot believe they´re dead. It seems to easy", said Lioness and looked at the giantic rocks lying in the water. The whole cave had collapsed and the rocks were the only things which remembered of it.

"You´re right, this is too easy. That´s why we thought it would be better if you think we´re dead", hissed a voice behind them. They whirled around and saw Tilian, Wrecka, Firekat, Stingfly and Rayza standing behind them. They smiled evilly.

"Tilian? That´s impossible! You´ve been buried under the rocks!", said Axel with widened eyes. He couldn´t believe that the clones had survived.

"Believe it or don´t, it doesn´t matter. But now we have you where we wanted you", replied the clone. "Now we have the dragon and in some time we´ll have you!"

He nodded to his teammates. They attacked the two who went into fighting position. Firekat ran towards Lioness and wanted to kick her legs, but she jumped into the air and kicked Stingfly who flew towards her. As she landed on the ground she turned a backflip, grabbed Firekat´s shoulders and threw her away. She hit a tree and sank to the ground before she stood up again.

Wrecka ran towards Axel. Quickly he jumped into the air, landed shortly on the back of King´s clone and kicked Rayza who stood in front of him. Tilian spat his paralyzing venom at Axel, but he jumped out of the way so Tilian nearly hit Wrecka who turned around and could avoid the venom in the last moment. Axel kicked his clone who blocked the attack easily. He kicked him again, placed his feet on Tilian´s chest and turned a backflip.

As he landed on the ground Rayza came from behind and wanted to grab him, but Axel ducked and Rayza fell over him. Suddenly Wrecka grabbed Axel and threw him hardly against a tree. He sank onto the ground, but stood up as fast as he could and avoided the venom that flew past him as he jumped out of the way. Tilian growled angry, attacked Axel and kicked him. He grabbed his right arm, threw him into the air and kicked into his stomach two times, then he grabbed Axel on his waist and threw him as hard as he could onto the ground.

Axel growled in pain, but stood up again. He saw Lioness fighting with Firekat and Stingfly. Stingfly grabbed Lioness´s arms and flew with her into the air. She tried to kick him and made it finally. He let her go and she fell. Before she landed Firekat kicked her into her belly one time, then she whirled around and kicked her another time so Lioness was sent against a tree. She sank onto her knees and held her belly in pain. Firekat ran towards her. Quickly Lioness jumped away and the clone´s claws went through the tree behind her like a knife through butter. The tree fell onto the ground and nearly hit Rayza who could jump away just in time.

Lioness felt still a hard pain in her belly. She growled in pain as she jumped away to avoid a bomb of Stingfly. Meanwhile Tilian spat his venom at Axel. He was fast enough to avoid it. Rayza stood behind him and the venom hit his legs. He couldn´t move. "Hey!", he shouted and tried to move. Tilian got angry.

"Am I too fast for you?", asked Axel provoking.

Tilian was that angry that he spat his venom another time. Axel stood in front of Stingfly. Now the venom hit Hawk´s clone and he fell onto the ground, he couldn´t move his wings. "Aiming is not your strength", smirked Axel as he ducked under another spit of venom. Tilian was really furious. He didn´t notice Axel always stood in front of the other clones to jump away if Tilian spat his venom at him. So he hit his teammates.

Rayza, Stingfly and Wrecka laid on the ground now and couldn´t move. "You should really train to aim before our next meeting", joked Axel. Unfortunately Tilian stopped spitting venom at him and attacked him the old fashioned way. Axel turned two flik-flaks backwards and saw Lioness fighting hardly with Firekat. Her clone threw Lioness into the air and kicked her into her belly another time. Lioness screamed shortly and fell onto her knees.

"Axel...I can´t fight...I´m too weak", she said and tried to stand up. Axel understood. It had no sense to continue the fight. Lioness seemed to be badly hurt and was very weak. He turned a somersault, landed behind Tilian and ran towards her. Quickly he kicked Firekat and used the moment of surprise to blast her away with his Jo-Lan. With a roar like a cat she crashed into a tree, but landed on her feet again.

"Let´s get out of here", he said to Lioness and helped her to stand up. "Hurry up, Tilian is not busy for very long", added Axel and he and Lioness disappeared between some bushs. Close behind them they heard Tilians hiss and Firekat´s furious roar. They ran faster and faster, but Lioness fell onto the ground after some time.

"I feel so...dizzy...and sick...", she said quietly. Seconds later she closed her eyes and passed out. She didn´t seem to feel very good. Axel worried and heard the hiss behind him. He lifted Lioness and ran with her through the forest as fast as he could. He tried to ignore the scratches some bushs with thorns caused to his skin. He seemed to need a half year to arrive at the end of the forest. Happy and relieved to see the path and the street in front of him he ignored his weak legs, his fast breath and his heart hammering against his chest.

Breathless he reached the gate of the castle. Fortunately Tilian didn´t follow him. Relieved he went into the mainbuilding, upstairs as fast as he could and carried Lioness to her room. Quickly he ran upstairs to the sixth floor and hammered against Garrett´s door. The young man opened and was shocked as he saw Axel´s face. "Please, you must... help me! Something is wrong... with Lioness", he said breathless. Garrett understood.

In her room he checked her up. "You should go and tell your friends. Please wait outside, she´s very weak", he said with a serious face. Axel nodded and left. He told his friends what happened. In front of Lioness´s room they sat down on some chairs. Everyone exept Axel. He walked up and down the corridor, with a worried face and his arms crossed on his back. While he walked up and down he stared at the ground.

"They are alive? And they still believe they have the real dragon, right? That could be an advantage for us", said Hawk and tried to make the mood better. It didn´t work.

"Three weeks...three weeks! I knew something bad would happen! I knew it!", said Axel absent-minded.

"It´s not your fault. We all thought they were dead", said King, trying to make his friend feel better.

"Dude, can you please sit down? It´s making me nervous if you walk up and down!", said Shark calmly.

"No!", snapped Axel back. But a second later he stopped as he saw the shocked faces of his friends. He sighed. "I´m sorry...It´s just that I´m so..."

"...worried?", finished King. Axel nodded. "We´re all worried, Li is our friend, of course we want her to get well soon. But we all have to wait now, we can´t help her at the moment."

Axel nodded again and sat down, too. Then the door of her room opened. Garrett looked out. "Err...Axel? I must tell you something...", he began.

"Is she dead? What´s up with her?" Axel stood up at once.

"No, calm down, she is alive. But...I want to talk to you about something...and I think it would be better if I tell it you alone first."

A little relieved Axel nodded and followed Garrett into Lioness´s room. Garrett rolled with his wheelchair next to Lioness´s bed. She laid there and was asleep. Her chest rose and fell in a regular rythm. Axel sat down on her bed and looked at her worried.

"What´s up with her?", he asked again.

"Err...I don´t know if you knew it. But..."

"Tell me!"

"She...lost her child", said Garrett finally. Axel looked at him with widened eyes.

"She...she was pregnant?", he asked and didn´t believe it.

"You didn´t know it? She was eight or ten weeks pregnant. I guess she didn´t know it herself. But didn´t you notice her behavior in the last time? Did she feel more often sick or dizzy or something like that?", asked Garrett.

"Yes...she told me she didn´t feel very good."

"She´s lucky that she survived. I guess she´ll feel better in one or two days. But...I´m sorry for you. For you two", said Garrett and looked at Axel. "I´ll leave now. She´s still very weak, but she´ll make it. I can´t do anything more for her at the moment."

**Okay, okay...another VERY long chapter...and a sad one, too... ( it was the idea of my sis, don´t know why, but she wanted something very, very sad...I guess she had a bad day...)**

**Nevertheless I hope you like it and please review! **


	46. The truth

The truth

Lioness woke up an hour later. Her view was still a little blurry as she looked around. She was in her room. Next to her bed sat Axel holding her hand. The last thing she remembered was the fight with Firekat...the pain in her belly...Axel carrying her through the forest. Then she had passed out. Her head ached a little and the pain in her belly was terrible, but not that strong like before.

"How are you?", he asked quietly and with a gently voice. She tried to smile. "I feel as if an elephant ran over me", she replied with a quiet voice and smiled weakly.

"What´s wrong with me?", she asked. Axel had hoped she wouldn´t ask him that. He sighed and looked away. Lioness got distrustful and curious. "Tell me."

"Did you know you´ve been eight or ten weeks pregnant?" He looked into her eyes.

"You´re joking me, aren´t you?", she asked and looked into his eyes. Then her smile disappeared and her face turned serious. She fell back into her pillow and stared at the ceiling with absent-minded eyes. She buried her face in her hands.

"I _have been_? You mean I lost it?", she asked quietly. Axel just nodded. He didn´t know what to say and looked away. He knew Lioness felt terrible. He did, too. But what should he do? What happened, happened and was past.

"But when did we...?", he asked. Lioness shook her head. She didn´t knew it. Then there was silence between them.

"It´s my fault", he said after a while. She looked at him. He saw some tears in her eyes, but she didn´t cry.

"Why that? I should have told you earlier that I didn´t feel good. And moreover we all thought they were dead", she said. "But the main thing is they don´t have the dragon", she smiled.

Axel stood up. "You should sleep a little now", he said quietly and gave her a kiss. She nodded as he closed the door. In front of the door waited his friends. They stood up as they saw Axel´s face.

"What´s up?", they asked curious. Axel shook his head and went to his room. "Please don´t be angry if I don´t want to tell you, but please not now", he replied quietly and closed the door of his room. His friends looked confused at his closed door, but then they went into their rooms, too. If he wanted to be alone they didn´t want to disturb him. Axel looked at the pendant that hung on the necklace around his neck. It shimmered silver in the light of the sun.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Tilian looked at the dragon in his hands. Then he gave it to his master who stood next to him. "A little late, but here´s the dragon", he said as his master took the dragon. He looked at it for a very long time. Suddenly he threw it onto the ground in anger.

"You fools! This isn´t the real one! It´s just a silly copy!", he shouted.

"What?!"

"Okay, listen. I want you to get the dragon. NOW. And don´t come back without it!", said their master and tried to stay calm. "There are just three weeks left, and I want the dragon till then, did you understand me?"

The clones nodded embarassed and scared. Their master had the power to let them disappear forever, just with one wave of his hand. That was the reason why they listened to him and his orders. They bowed to him shortly and left the hiding place to find the dragon and its protector, Axel Manning.

At the evening Axel went for a walk around the castle. The sun setted and the sky turned red and orange. He breathed in the fresh air and closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the sun. Unfortunately it setted very fast, so it was dark after a short time. The stars appeared at the sky and the moon rose. It was a very thin moon, at the end of the month it would be full.

As he wanted to go through the gate he suddenly heard a voice. "Axel? Can you come please?" It was Lioness. He saw her standing in the shadow of the smith´s workshop. He couldn´t see her face, just her contour.

"Li? You have to stay in bed!", he said as he walked towards her. As he was one metre in front of her he suddenly noticed something was wrong. Two strong arms seemed to come out of nowhere and grabbed him from behind. Another hand was pressed against his mouth and he couldn´t scream. Someone threw him onto the ground and sat down on his back, pressing his arms onto his back. Another one grabbed his legs and he couldn´t move.

"That was not very nice to give us a copy of the dragon", hissed a voice. It was Tilian´s. He bent down and found the necklace around Axel´s neck. With a short flip he held it in his hands. Lioness´s shadow bent down too. Now she was close enough and Axel recognized Firekat. She grinned and showed him her sharp teeth. Axel tried to move, but Wrecka prevented him from standing up while Stingfly had grabbed his legs. Tilian put the dragon into a pocket in his jumpsuit and smiled. He nodded to Rayza.

Wrecka stood up and Rayza grabbed Axel´s shoulder. An electrical shock went through him and he passed out as he fell onto the ground. "That was too easy, if you ask me", said Stingfly distrustful.

"We have the dragon, let´s disappear. Even if he wakes up he won´t come to the place fast enough. We´ll arrive earlier than him. Let´s let him here, he is useless for us. Our order is just to get the dragon", said Tilian and the clones disappeared.

Shortly before sunrise Axel woke up. His head ached. Then he remembered what had happened this night. At once he was awake. The clones were gone, he was still in the inner ward. He cursed and ran to the rooms of his friends. He woke them up and told them to Garrett´s lab. Axel himself went into Lioness´s room while the others did what he wanted. Quietly he opened the door and looked in. Lioness sat on the frame of her window and looked absent-minded into the darkness.

"How do you feel?", he asked and walked over to her.

"Better", was the short answer. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him.

"Maybe it sounds a little crazy, but I know how you feel", he said and smiled. Lioness smiled, too.

"What´s up?", she asked worried. Axel just told her to follow him. They went to Garrett´s lab. Fortunately Garrett was there, too. The five guys looked confused as Axel and Lioness came in. Garrett´s face turned serious.

"You know she should stay in bed", he said.

"Just for this one time." Lioness sat down on a chair and Garrett sighed. "Did the bleeding stop?", he asked Lioness. She shook her head.

"But it´s not that much like yesterday", she replied. Garrett nodded. "Then you´ll be okay again in one or two days", he explained. King, Shark and Hawk looked confused and listened to their conversation.

"What´s up with you?", asked Hawk Lioness finally.

"Well...err...I was...pregnant", she said quietly and looked away. Everyone´s eyes looked at Axel now. He blushed. "What?"

"What means you WERE pregnant?", asked Shark curious.

"That means she lost it, you idiot!", hissed King who noticed Lioness felt miserable while they talked about it. And Axel, too. For a moment there was an embarassing silence in the room, broken by the yawn of Hawk.

"But that´s not important now", interrupted Axel and changed the theme.

"Tonight I went for a walk. The Mu-Team attacked me out of nowhere and I couldn´t do anything. I´m sorry to tell you this, but...they got the dragon. The real one. They have noticed that I gave them a copy."

Everyone´s eyes widened. "That´s terrible! Who knows what they´re going to do with the power of the dragon! Maybe they´ll make us to their slaves and we have to wear those terrible clothes for servants and-"

"Hawk!", snapped Lioness.

"Okay, okay, sorry for this...what are we going to do now?"

This time everyone looked at Axel again. He was deeply in thoughts. Shark waved his hand in front of his eyes. "We have to get it back", he finally said while he stared at the ground, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He leaned against the wall.

"And where to you think we can find them?", asked King.

"Of course they´ll go to the island as fast as they can. They don´t want to lose any time", replied Lioness and stood up. Garrett shook his head.

"Sit down! I tell you, you´ll tipe over, even if you feel good for this moment! You´re lucky that you´re alive. I knew some woman who lost their children AND their life! So please sit down, it would be better for you and everyone of us", he said. Without saying a word Lioness sat down again and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Hey, don´t be offended, he´s right. And in two days you´ll be okay again", said Axel.

"Okay, then we have to get to this island, too", guessed King. Everone nodded, exept Garrett. "Of course I´ll stay here", he grinned. "It´s a little too dangerous for me, if you want to know my opinion."

"We need two weeks to this island, like Theresia said. That could be narrow, but not impossible", said Hawk.

"Let´s go in two days. Lioness is healthy again and we can start."

"Good, we have two days time to plan everything. I think we should go to bed now, Shark is tiping over every second", said King jokingly and noticed Shark´s half closed eyes. He yawned as he heard the word _bed_.

"Finally, dudes. I can´t stand anymore", he said tired.

They all went to bed. Axel helped Lioness into her room and laid her into her bed. "It´s a little creepy. Everything what Theresia told me became true. There was one happy thing, you were pregnant. Well, until the fight, that was the bad happening. Because of this you lost your...our child. And I´m interested what the next thing is. Something happy again", said Axel and sat down on Lioness´s bed. She smiled.

"Can you stay here tonight?", she asked after a long moment of silence.

"If you want", smiled Axel and laid down next to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight to his body. She closed her eyes and felt a little more safe when he was next to her. She felt his regular breath in her neck. "Axel?", she asked quietly. No answer. He was asleep. She smiled and yawned before she fell asleep, too. Outside the sun started rising and painted the sky red and in a gently yellow.

**Wow, a short chapter without ANY action...well, I don´t like this chapter really, it´s so serious... Please review anyway!**


	47. Journey

Journey

Two days later everyone got up very early. They packed their backpacks for the journey with some victuals and clothes. Then they all meat in front of their rooms to go to Garrett´s lab. He had wanted them to come there. The five teens went to the lab. Lioness was totally healthy again and felt great this day. Even though it was shortly after sunrise and everyone was tired.

King knocked at the door and Garrett called them in. "Ah, good morning you five! How are you?" As an answer he got tired yawns. "Okay, tired, I see. Well, I have some gifts for you", smiled the young man and pointed proudly at a drawer on the other side of the room. The mood of the teens lit up and they went over to the drawer. They opened it and saw five jumpsuits in different colors. First they were confused.

"Well, these jumpsuits are made up of a special material which is unable to burn. Moreover they´re more comfortable and more elastic than your normal clothes. And they look better", he grinned.

"What´s wrong with my clothes?", asked Hawk offended.

"Come on, Hawk! Those jumpsuits are great!", said King and took the white one with some orange colored parts. He looked at the pants and at the jacket and smiled. Lioness took the green jumpsuit.

"Can we...?"

"Of course you can wear them now", said Garrett smiling. "And be careful, the material is very strong, but I don´t know if it can tear. It cost me the last two nights to make them, I hope you like my gifts."

"Yeah, they´re great!", said Axel and took the black and orange jumpsuit. Shark took the yellow one and Hawk the blue one. Quickly they put them on.

"I hope it´s your size!"

"They fit very well! Great, Garrett, thanks!"

"I think we should go now", said Axel after a while. They nodded and said good bye to their friend. The five friends took their backpacks, went downstairs and into the inner ward to saddle their horses. As they finished they rode out of the gate and turned west. In their backs the sun rose and their shadows were in front of them. They rode the whole day over large meadows, through some forests until their horses were tired. In the early evening they decided to make a break for the night.

"It´s like our journey from north to south, but now from east to west", smiled Shark and leaned against a small tree while King and Axel lit a fire. They were on the plains of Algiswar, the largest ones in the kingdom of Landmark. Like Theresia had said it would cost them two weeks to arrive at the cost. If they arrived there in time they had one or two days time to find the Mu-Team and the dragon.

"I hope we can protect the dragon...I hope I can protect it...It was my duty and I lost it", said Axel and sat down at the fire.

"But now it´s your duty to get it back", said a voice behind him. Everyone turned to the ninja who stood now behind Axel. Quickly he stood up and the others went into fighting position, too.

"Who is this guy?", asked Hawk.

"This is Dragon, a Jo-Lan warrior. He´s around us since the battle", explained Lioness.

"That´s wrong, I´ve been watching you for longer than just since the battle", replied Dragon and looked at her. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he didn´t seem to notice that everyone was ready to attack him.

"Since when exactly?", asked Axel serious.

"It doesn´t matter now. I´m here to come with you to Saska. I guess you know it´s other, older name, _insula draconem_", said the ninja and looked at Axel. He relaxed a little. He felt that the ninja was serious, he didn´t want to attack them. At the moment. Axel just nodded.

"But why do you want to come with us?", he asked distrustful.

"Of course the clones have a master, someone who created them. It must be a very powerful magician, because he was able to make a copy of you all. Moreover he put some parts of animals into your copies to make them stronger. Five against six will be a little unfair, won´t it?"

"But you have no horse, you´ll be slowlier than we are", interrupted Lioness.

Dragon just shook his head. He pointed at something behind him. There stood a pitch-black horse next to the ones of the five teens. It was tied to the same tree and ate some grass. The teens looked surprised and didn´t know what to say. Axel and Lioness knew he was a good fighter, so he would be a great help. To sent him away would be silly, moreover he WANTED to help them.

Axel sighed and sat down next to the fire. The others did, too. "But no silly ninja-tricks, right?", he said and laid down in the soft grass. Dragon nodded. Hours later they decided to sleep. Everyone laid down in the grass and moments later Hawk, Shark, King and Lioness fell asleep. Axel couldn´t. That the ninja sat next to him made him nervous. There was still distrust deep in him. So he pretended that he was asleep and watched the ninja who just sat there and stared into the flames of the fire that became smaller with every second.

After an hour Dragon still sat there and hadn´t moved any inch. Axel sat up and looked at the man confused. Then he got it. _Jo-Lan trance...wow, he´s good. I would have tiped over!_ As he thought this he smiled. But was the ninja really in trance? Axel waved his hand carefully in front of the man´s open eyes. Suddenly Dragon rose his hand and grabbed Axel´s arm very quickly. Axel was shocked of this reflex.

"I´m still awake, even if I´m in trance", said Dragon and let Axel´s hand go.

"I´m sorry...Did you know my father?", he suddenly asked.

"Yes, very well. I...got to know him at the temple of Jo-Lan, in Hongkong. The first and last time we met. He was there for some years, but then he decided to go to Landmark", he replied.

"Yeah, he had told me something about the temple", said Axel and looked at the ground.

"You should sleep now, tomorrow will be a hard day", said the ninja after a while.

"But why...?" Axel noticed that Dragon didn´t listen. He seemed to be in trance again. With a smile he laid down in the soft grass, took a last deep breath in and fell moments later asleep.

The next morning Axel woke up early. The sun started rising. He sat up and looked around. The fire was put out and there was just smoking ash. His friends were still asleep. Dragon was awake and sharpened his golden sword with a grindstone. Some clouds were at the sky, but it still looked as if the weather would stay good. Axel stood up and took his backpack. He laid it onto the back of his horse and saddled it.

"I thought you would wake up a little earlier", said the ninja as he put his sword back into its scabbard on his back. He stood up. Axel just shrugged his shoulders. He walked over to Lioness and shook her gently. She opened her eyes and looked into his. Then she sat up and stretched shortly while she yawned. Axel woke up the others, too. Afer a short breakfast they continued their journey.

Until late afternoon was silence between them all. "How do you feel?", asked Axel Lioness after some time. "I´m fine", she replied and smiled.

"Sure?", he asked worried.

"No, everything´s okay, really. Why are you asking?"

"I just wanted to know if you still feel bad because of...you know...", he said and paused. Now he rode close next to her because he didn´t want the others to listen to their conversation.

"Listen, I feel okay. Everything is normal again and I tried to forget what happened. Life continues", she said and smiled at him.

"Okay...I was just still a little worried. And I´m worried because of him", he whispered to her and meant Dragon. She looked at him a little confused and surprised.

"But you know he wants to help us. He´s a Jo-Lan warrior and knows what a duty you have. If I were you I would worry about the things after the star constellation...Who knows if he will be on our side or against us", she replied and looked at the large plains in front of them. Everything to the horizon was green, a little brown and sometimes yellow. The grass had a lot of different colors. It was nearly summer, so the grass was still green. In summer it was mostly yellow, brown and sometimes a little orange because it didn´t rain a lot then.

Axel just sighed. None said a word until the afternoon. "Hey guys, let´s make a break. I´m tired!", said Shark some time before the sun setted.

"Hm...do you see that tree overthere? We can rest under it", suggested Lioness. "The last one there has to wash King´s underwear for the next month!", she shouted and made her horse ran faster. She galloped as fast as she could to reach the tree at first. The others switched grinning looks and followed her. The horses galloped over the grass and breathed heavily as they reached the tree. Lioness has arrived yet and looked at them, smiling. Everyone turned around and saw Hawk arriving at last. He had a red head.

"Okay, but I won´t wash his boxers", he growled and tied his horse to the tree next to the ones of the others. Dragon had arrived before Hawk. So he was really the last one. The horses were very tired, but the sun would start setting in one hour or so. They still had some time until it would get darker. So they tried to collect some wood for a fire, on the plains were not many trees and not much wood.

Half an hour later they had enough wood for the first half of the night. The other half they would be asleep, so they didn´t need a fire then. King sat down next to the fire he was trying to make. Lioness sat down next to him and watched the smoke which rose into the air as King lit the dry wood. He put some dry grass onto it and after moments it burned finally.

Axel leaned against the tree, his arms crossed in front of his chest and stared into the nowhere. He was totally absent-minded. Meanwhile Shark and Hawk sat down next to the fire, too. Well, Shark laid down in the grass, crossed his arms behind his head and nearly fell asleep. Dragon watched them for a while. Then he walked over to Axel and stood next to him.

"Show me how you train", said the ninja. Axel looked at him, confused and asking. "I want to see how you´re training. If you must protect the dragon with your life you must fight very good, otherwise they´ll kill you."

"And what shall I show you?", he asked.

"Let´s fight", replied Dragon, took a few steps backwards and went into fighting position. He looked at Axel and waited for his attack.

**Thanks for reading, next chapter is coming soon! ; ) Review, please!**


	48. Lessons

Lessons

Axel hesitated first, but then he went into fighting position, too. His friends turned around to them and watched what they were doing. First the two Jo-Lan warriors stood in front of each other, waiting for an attack of the other one. Then Axel attacked him at first. He kicked him, but the ninja ducked and Axel missed. As he went to the ground and tried to kick his legs Dragon jumped into the air and avoided the attack. Axel punched him. With a short move sidewards Dragon avoided the punch, grabbed Axel´s arm, kicked his legs away and sent him backwards onto the ground.

He landed on his back, but with a roll he stood on his feet again. "First of all you need to concentrate. Imagine that your friends are not here, imagine you´re somewhere without people", said the ninja. Axel rolled his eyes a little and started another attack again. Dragon turned a somersault and landed behind him. Axel ducked because he expected a punch, but Dragon kicked his legs and he fell onto the ground again. Quickly he stood up. Why couldn´t he concentrate?

"Because you don´t respect your enemy", replied Dragon as if he could read Axel´s thoughts. Surprised he looked at him. "Why...?", he wanted to ask, but was cut off by the ninja.

"...I know this? Well, I know a lot about you. And I know that you hate me because you think it´s my fault that your father had to die. But it isn´t like you think. There are a lot of things you don´t know and you have to learn."

Axel got angry now. He concentrated, attacked the ninja with a kick and ducked under a kick of Dragon. "Now that you reached a higher level of Jo-Lan we could practise some more complicated movements", suggested Dragon. "Attack me." Axel did. He kicked Dragon, but his kick was blocked. With a surprising speed and agility Dragon jumped into the air, grabbed Axel´s shoulders and used his own weight to throw him away. He didn´t throw him very far, but high into the air. While he was in the air Dragon jumped, kicked him one time and grabbed his shoulders again. Quickly and hardly he threw Axel onto the ground who moaned in pain after landing very hardly.

"What was that for?", he asked, struggling to stand up. Somehow his legs were very weak. He could hardly stand. Now he was really furious.

"This was your first lesson", replied the ninja and sat down on the ground.

"What means _was_? Hey, we just fought ten minutes!"

"You´re too unconcentrated. And your hate is too big. We can continue your training tomorrow, if you want, but just if you´ve learned to respect your enemy and to concentrate on your movements. You´re a good fighter, but at the moment your emotions weaken you", said Dragon and crossed his legs. Axel couldn´t understand him. Angry he turned around and sat down some metres away from his friends, and farther away from Dragon. He was fed up for this evening. Axel turned his back to his friends and the fire and stared into nowhere.

The sun setted and threw an orange, red and yellow light on the plains. The grass seemed to burn in the red colors of the sunset. There were some thick clouds at the sky in the east, maybe it could rain the next day. But at the moment the weather was good and sunny. Half an hour later the sun was gone and stars were all over the darkblue sky. The moon was still thin.

"Li, you should talk to him", said King after a while.

"Why always me?", she asked, looking at everyone.

"Because it´s a job for women to be sensible", said Hawk and smiled, but as he saw Lioness´s angry look he stopped smiling and looked away.

"Come on, you must do it because he likes you and listens to you...and because none of us wants to do it, dude", said Shark who still laid in the soft grass, his arms crossed behind his head.

Lioness sighed and stood up. She walked over to Axel and sat down next to him. He had crossed his legs and his eyes were closed. He didn´t move. She looked at him. "Axel? Hello?" She waved her hand in front of his eyes. He still didn´t move. Lioness knelt down in front of him and looked into his face. Suddenly he opened his eyes and looked straight into hers.

"What are you doing?", she asked interested.

"I´m trying to concentrate better with meditation", he replied and stretched as he wanted to stand up.

"So you´re doing what he wants?"

Axel just sighed and looked away. "Maybe his master killed my father...but he wants to help me with my Jo-Lan. So I trust him at the moment", he said quietly. Lioness smiled. "I bet the next time you´ll beat him", she said.

"Maybe. He´s as good as my father, and I have never beaten my dad", said Axel and looked up at the starry sky.

The next morning Dragon woke Axel up. It was when the sun rose. "Don´t you think it´s a little too early?", asked Axel annoyed and turned his back to the ninja. He wanted to sleep. Somehow he was very tired. Dragon seemed to be gloatingly that Axel was still tired.

"In the next two weeks we´ll train every morning and every evening", he said. Axel sighed annoyed and sat up. "If you really want to get better in fighting you _must_ train. Even if you´re tired", said the ninja and stood up. Axel did, too. He yawned shortly and tried not to fall asleep again. It was very cold that morning, fog was on the plains and the sky turned a little yellow in the east. The fire was put out and some smoke rose still into the air.

In the next hour Dragon showed Axel some ways to block different attacks and to attack an enemy with more difficult and faster movements. After the first minute of their training Axel was awake. He just thought of trying not to be beaten by the ninja. He used the new moves and could block some attacks successfully. But sometimes he was a little too slowly and was hit.

The rest of the team woke up after some time. While they were heaving a short breakfast they watched the training interested.

"Okay, now one last fight. Try to use very fast moves and don´t forget to block. That´s important. And of course you can imporvise", said Dragon as he went into fighting position. Axel just nodded and concentrated.

This time Dragon attacked him at first. Very fast he attacked Axel with a kick, but missed because Axel ducked just in time. Quickly he turned a flik-flak backwards as Dragon tried to kick his legs. Now Axel ran towards him, jumped into the air and kicked. As he landed on the ground he jumped into the air again, Dragon missed as he tried to kick his legs again. The ninja punched, but was blocked.

He jumped, landed with his hands on Axel´s shoulders and used his own weight to throw him away. Axel reacted fast enough and turned a backflip in the air instead of hitting the ground hardly. But the ninja attacked him again with some kicks in a fast order. Axel could block them hardly, but the last one hit him on his chest and he fell backwards. Moreover Dragon kicked his legs and he fell onto his back.

"You´re growing better and better", said the ninja and gave Axel his hand to help him up. First he hesitated, but then he took Dragon´s hand and was pulled up.

"I...guess it´s because of my good teacher", replied Axel and smiled.

"You´re learning very fast. In two weeks you could be much stronger than now. But just if you accept my training methods", said Dragon and looked at him. Axel nodded. "I promise", he said.

"Hey guys, let´s go now", suggested Shark and saddled his horse. The others did, too.

In the next seven days they rode straight on into the west. The plains were very, very large and ended at the coast. So the teens and the ninja wouldn´t see anything else exept grass until they reached the coast. But there were still five days until they had to arrive the island. They guessed to reach the coast in three or four days. Axel and Dragon trained every morning and every evening, when the sun rose and setted. Dragon said that there is more concentration in a Jo-Lan warrior early at the morning and more power in his body in the evening. So they practised a lot of exercises for their spirit power at sunrise. Like meditation or practising the movements very slowly to get to know the moves. In the evening they fought more hardly, but sometimes they even fought in the morning.

Over the whole days they rode and rode. They didn´t make a break because it would cost them too much time. If they were just a little too late... So they hurried some days a little more.

At the evening they rested on the plains. There was no tree or higher plant, just grass. They couldn´t make a fire because they had no wood. So they just sat down on the ground.

"I´m bored of this endless green", said Hawk after a while and yawned. "The whole day nothing else than green grass, green plants and no trees. Just these plains."

"People were right. These plains really seem to be endless. I mean, in west they end at the coast. But what about the east?", asked King.

"Wow, now were starting to talk about this green. Don´t we have any other theme? Hawk is right, this is boring", said Shark.

"I guess our two Jo-Lan warriors have more fun than we have", said Lioness and laid down in the grass. She turned to Axel and Dragon who fought a few metres away from the small group.

"Do you think he just wants to win our trust to defeat us all?", asked Hawk distrustful as he watched them fighting.

"Come on, Hawk! In three or four days we´ll reach the coast, he could have killed us by now, but he didn´t. And he had have enough chances to do so", guessed King and looked at Hawk. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"Moreover he helps Axel with his techniques", added Lioness while watching their Jo-Lan training. Dragon kicked Axel´s legs, but he jumped into the air and turned a somersault. Gently he landed behind the ninja and started a new attack. She saw that he was totally concentrated, his eyes watched every movement of Dragon and his muscles reacted fast enough to block the attacks.

"Good night, dudes, I´m tired", said Shark after a long moment of silence and laid down in the grass. He seemed to disappear in the high grass, you couldn´t see him while he was lying there. The sun had setted an hour ago and Dragon and Axel stopped their training. They walked over to the others and saw they were asleep. Axel sat down in the grass and watched Lioness sleeping. He smiled a little. Dragon sat down in opposite of him.

"What did my father know? What was the reason why he was killed?", asked Axel in the silence.

Dragon first didn´t answer. Then he looked at Axel. "You´re not ready to know it. But I promise, I´ll tell you in a few days", he replied. Axel nodded and laid on his back. He crossed his arms behind his head and looked at the cloudy sky. He could see some stars, but there were too many clouds to see the moon. Moments later he fell asleep.

**Please review! There will be not much more chapters, I guess. Maybe...let me see...well, I can´t tell you anything about how many there will be, ut at least two. ( I guess, that doesn´t mean I´m sure! There can be more or less than I told you now. Don´t know exactly...)**


	49. Secrets

Secrets

Those three days passed very fast. At the evening of that day they reached the coast. There were two or three metre high cliffs, beneath them was the sandy and sometimes grassy shore. The waves of the sea were rushing and gleamed yellow in the setting sun. Some clouds were at the sky and painted red, orange and yellow, sometimes a little pink.

The teens and Dragon stood on top of the cliffs and looked at the sea. "Dudes, when everything is over, you´ll find me surfing in this great waves", said Shark smiling. In his mind he imagined high waves and himself surfing.

"You can surf later, if there is a _later_", said King seriously.

"Do you see the island at the horizon? We´ll need a boat", mentioned Lioness and pointed at the island, it´s contour was clear to recognize in the setting sun. The group decided to climb down the cliffs. As they reached the shore they looked around. There was no town, no village and no house in sight. They were alone. Where should they get a boat from?

"I guess we must swim", said Axel and looked at the sea. It was very far to the island. "No, just a joke!", he added as he saw Hawk´s face. He couldn´t swim and was afraid of the water.

"Hey! Look what´s here!", yelled Shark. He stood under the cliffs next to something with many plants and sand on it. They walked over to him to get a closer look to the thing. Shark wiped the sand away and picked the plants. He threw them away and turned the "thing" around. It was a small, wooden rowing boat.

"It looks very old, but I think it can swim", said Lioness looking at the boat. There were two rudders, one on the left and the other one on the right. "Do you think it can carry six persons?", she asked distrustful as she saw how old it was.

"Of course, trust this small boat! It´s our only ticket to the island!", replied Shark. "And King is rowing."

"I´ll help you", said Axel. Together they brought the rowing boat to the water.

"We should go to the island now, at day they could see us. I bet the clones are on the island yet", said Dragon. The others nodded. Hawk looked distrustful at the wood as he got into the boat. King and Axel sat down on one bench in the middle of the boat, Lioness and Hawk sat down on a bench at the nose while Shark shared the bench with Dragon on the heck. The wood moaned quietly, but it didn´t get broken. No water came into it, so everything was okay.

Axel and King started rowing. Very slowly the boat moved through the water, that number of persons seemed a little too much for it. Very deep it sank into the water. Nevertheless no water came in, and that was it what counted.

After the half of the way suddenly a hole appeared in the wood. Water came into the rowing boat and within seconds everyone´s feet got wet. "Guys, I can´t swim!", said Hawk in panic. "Don´t worry, we´ll make it", said King and rowed faster. Axel did, too. But it didn´t help. With the water in the boat they were much heavier and so much slowlier. The boat sank deeper and deeper into the water until the water could float over the edge into the boat. In seconds the boat sunk. Hawk struggled to swim, then Shark swam over to him and helped him staying at the air.

"Let´s swim as fast as we can, we don´t have many light. And try to stay together", said Shark. He led the group through the cold and salty water. Hawk had wrapped his arms around his neck and held onto him tight. He was afraid to sink. But Shark held him over water. The waves of the sea made everything more difficult. Half an hour later they reached the shore of the island.

They had luck, this was the only side of the island where a sandy shore was. The rest of its coast were just high cliffs. Tired, wet and hardly breathing they crept on the shore until they fell into the soft sand. Hawk coughed because he had swallowed some water. Even Dragon seemed to be tired. Axel grinned a little gloatingly as he saw the ninja trying to stand up.

"I guess you don´t like swimming", he said breathless and tried to stand up, too.

Dragon shook his head. "If you want to know it, I prefer the land." With this he stood up and walked some steps. Then he stopped and waited for the rest of the team.

"Can we make a fire? I´m cold and wet and..." Hawk shook a little.

"There is a small cave in the cliffs overthere. None will see us there", suggested King and pointed at a small hole in the cliffs. After a lot tries to stand up everyone stood on their feet again and they went to the cave. After making a fire they all sat around it and were happy about the flames which reheated them and dried their clothes.

"Tomorrow, exactly at midnight are the stars in the perfect constellation and the moon is full. That´s the moment when the dragon is needed. Until then we must have it back, otherwise we have no chance. This is our _last_ chance to protect the dragon", explained Dragon and leaned his sword against the wall of the cave. "Any plan?" He looked at everyone.

Axel was deep in thoughts. He stared at the flames of the fire. Then he noticed the look of the ninja. He looked up. "Improvisation", he said seriously.

The whole next day everyone slept. They were all tired. Dragon didn´t train with Axel. He had to get some rest, too. At the afternoon Axel sat down next to the ninja who sharpened his golden sword with a grindstone.

"When are you going to tell me what my father knew?", he asked curious and quietly because he didn´t want to wake up his friends. The ninja said nothing and stared into the flames of the fire.

"Well, your father knew where the dragon was. Before your birth he was the protector of the dragon. But he thought it was a too big duty for him, so he gave it back to another Jo-Lan warrior. He gave it to a young woman who should protect it. She had to wait for the next dragon warrior to protect it. It was safer in that times that the dragon was in the hands of a person who was no Jo-Lan warrior. Since the last thousand or twothousand years the dragon has always been under the protection of the Jo-Lan warriors. If you was evil, where would you look at first for the dragon?"

"At the temple of Jo-Lan, where all the Jo-Lan warriors are", replied Axel.

"Right. So they gave it to someone who was a good friend of the warriors. This woman moved to Brazil where she lives since then. This woman is Lioness´s mother. So she gave it to her daughter as she heard a Jo-Lan warrior was in Landmark. Then it was her duty to find the right one. And it worked. The secret of the dragon was one of the biggest in the history. Just three persons knew about it. One monk in the temple, your father and me."

He paused for a moment. Then he continued, "Some times before Paine came to the village some other men appeared. They warned your father and asked him where the dragon was because he was the protector of it. The last time they appeared was when Paine arrived, too. He didn´t want to tell them where the dragon was, it was too dangerous. They threatened him. I guess you didn´t know anything about it."

"Yes, unfortunately. That day I was training alone somewhere in the forests. As I came back Paine reached our village and my father told me to run away", replied Axel.

Dragon nodded. "Those men hid in your house. They wanted to talk to your father after Paine was gone. But I guess your father saw a chance to escape. He fought with Paine and at the end of their fight Paine told his men to lit the whole village. The men saw a chance to kill your father in all the trouble and put some gun powder into the flames while they fought with your father in your burning house. Those men died, too, but they completed their mission and that´s what counted. Their mission was to kill your father, as you know."

"So they killed him because he didn´t want to tell them where the dragon was?", asked Axel. The ninja nodded. "He was a good guardian, but unfortunately he thought he couldn´t take care of the dragon. Don´t make the same mistake like him, if the men had found where the dragon was they would have killed everyone who was in their way. But you are stronger now than he was. You can make it", said Dragon.

Outside the sun setted. The sky turned orange and yellow. Dragon stood up and took his sword. "You should wake up your friends. We have some hours to find the clones. The island is not very big, so it won´t take a lot of time. But we need a plan after we found them", he said.

Axel woke up his friends. Some minutes later they were all ready to fight and to get the dragon back. As they walked out of the cave Dragon stopped Axel and placed his hand on his shoulder. He looked into his eyes. "Believe in your spirit powers and think of our training, my son", he said.

Somehow Axel didn´t like it that the ninja called him _his son_. He took a step backwards. "You´re not my father", he said annoyed. He didn´t want his voice to sound angry, but unfortunately his feelings came out in his voice. He was angry and remembered that it was the fault of Dragon´s master that his father was killed. Lioness, King, Shark and Hawk turned to them and wanted to know why Axel was angry.

After a long moment of silence Dragon sighed. "I guess it´s time to tell you something..."

"And what?"

"Your father...is not dead."

Axel´s eyes widened as he heard this sentence. He didn´t want to believe the ninja. Maybe it was just another lie of him. "Where is he?", he asked a little distrustful and looked into Dragon´s face.

**Hehe...I guess you all know _where_ his father is, don´t you? grinning Lol, okay, a little too easy this riddle. It´s totally obvious! Nevertheless, please review, dudes! This story is coming to its end and I hope I´ll get some more reviews of you:)**


	50. Farewell

Farewell

"Where is he?", asked Axel again.

The ninja sighed again. "He..." He looked at Axel. "In front of you." Dragon took off his mask. For those seconds Axel nearly stopped breathing. He looked now into the face of a man with long, darkbrown hair and clear blue eyes. He looked straight into his. For some moments Axel was paralyzed. He couldn´t move. But then, after a long time a tear rolled down his cheek. "Dad.", was all he whispered as he looked at the man in front of him.

A long time the two stood in front of each other until Axel fell around his father´s neck and hugged him. Now he started crying and buried his face in the clothes of his dad. He was so happy to see him again after he had thought he was dead. Ten years of sadness and lonelyness seemed to disappear at once. The only feeling he had at this moment was a giantic relief.

His friends have never seen Axel crying, never. Normally he had a perfect controle about his feelings, but now the relief that his father was alive was that big that he cried of happyness.

Axel let his father go and wiped the tears out of his eyes. He looked at him. "Why? Why didn´t you tell me earlier? Why did you make me think you´re dead? Why did you let me alone?", he asked with a shaking voice. Disappointment was in it, too.

His father looked at him. "I thought it was better when the master thinks that Sebastian Manning is dead. That was much safer for you. I bet they would have caused you pain to get the information about the dragon. I didn´t want to hurt you. It was just for your own protection. I´m so sorry", he replied. "But that doesn´t mean I didn´t look after you. In all these years I had enough time to get a look what you did. And the last year was the most interesting one." He looked at Lioness and she and Axel blushed a little. Sebastian started smiling.

"And who is your master?", asked Axel interested.

"I don´t really know. I just saw him one time and then he wore a cape so I couldn´t see his face. When I got orders for my missions some of his men told me what I should do. But after the battle I didn´t hear anything of my master and I didn´t get any mission. So I had enough time to test your skills and to train with you", he said. Axel hugged his father again. As he let him go he turned to his friends.

"So, guys, this is my father, Sebastian Manning."

"Yep, that´s obvious, I see", said Shark and looked first at Sebastian, then at Axel. He meant their similarity to each other. They had the same eyes, the same hair color and the same face.

Shortly later they searched the clones on the island. They had to be on the highest point of it, and that was on the sleeping vulcano. They climbed the very steeply vulcano until they reached its top. There were some bushs and trees where they could hide. The other side of the vulcanoe bordered at the sea. If you threw a stone it would land in the open sea.

And really, the five clones stood there and seemed to wait for the star constellation. There was another person in a dark cape. They couldn´t see his face. A fire burned and Rayza and Wrecka sat next to it. Tilian and Firekat sat next to each other a few metres away from the group. Stingfly flew high in the air and turned his rounds over the vulcano. The man with the cape walked up and down, in his hands was the dragon. He looked at it.

"Awww, Tilian has a girlfriend!", giggled Hawk and looked at Axel´s and Lioness´s clones.

"Do you think clones can love?", asked Shark now interested.

"Shut up!", hissed King. Both kept quiet.

"Okay, here´s the plan. We´ll use the moment of surprise to attack them. I´ll get the dragon if I can", suggested Axel. His father put on his mask again. "It would be better if none knows I´m still alive", he explained. The teens just nodded.

"Good, we have the moment of surprise on our side", said Lioness.

Suddenly the man with the cape rose his arm, but didn´t look into their direction. A cloud of black dust formed around his hand and suddenly the bushs and trees in front of the group disappeared. The Mu-Team and the man with the cape looked at them as if they had expected their arrival.

"Surprise!", they all said together.

"And what now?", asked Hawk whispering and looked at his friends.

Axel stood up and took a step forewards. "Something that none else would do: Improvise!", he said. With this he ran towards the man with the cape. Meanwhile the others attacked their clones. "Tilian!", ordered the man and Tilian appeared out of nowhere. Quickly Axel attacked him with a kick, but missed because the clone ducked.

"Get the dragon back, I´ll take care of this lizard!", yelled Sebastian and helped his son. After kicking Tilian Axel turned a somersault and landed behind his clone. Then he ran towards the man with the cape while Sebastian attacked Tilian.

"Tilian, ignore the ninja and attack Manning!", ordered the man with the cape. The clone listened at once. After a kick of Sebastian he turned a backflip and landed between Axel and his master. He grinned and showed his sharp teeth. And with this, he attacked Axel. So Sebastian decided to get the dragon back. He ran towards the man, but stopped as he rose his arm. He suddenly couldn´t move.

"Aha, Dragon is back. Did you finish your mission? Well, you don´t need to answer. I see you failed. You disappointed your master", said the man.

"You´re not my master", replied Sebastian and tried to move. He still couldn´t.

"Really? Do you know who your master is? You just saw him one time, it was shortly after Sebastian Manning was killed. You came to me, your master", explained the man. Now Sebastian recognized his voice. The man continued, "You was not able to get the dragon from Manning, so I created the clones of him and his friends. I put some parts of strong animals in them, to make them even stronger than the originals. But I see, they are equally good."

He waved his arm and Sebastian flew through the air and hit a tree. He fell onto his knees.

Meanwhile King and Wrecka stood in front of each other and pressed their hands against the hands of the other one. They tried to push each other away, but none of them was stronger. Then King got an idea. Behind him he noticed Shark and Rayza fought. Shark ducked easily under the attacks of his clone and avoided them. "Dude, relax!", he said smirking after Rayza missed again.

King took a few steps backwards and exactly behind him was Rayza. Wrecka ran towards King and wanted to hit him with his horn. At the last moment King jumped away and Wrecka was too fast to stop. So he ran into Rayza. Shark´s clone was sent against a tree and fell onto his knees. Wrecka crashed with his horn into the tree, too, and couldn´t pull it out of it. The whole tree shook as he tried to get his horn free, but it was deeply in the wood.

Shark grinned. "I bet nothing is better than the original", he said as King stood next to him.

Firekat and Lioness turned a backflip at the same time. Then they attacked each other with a kick, Lioness blocked it and punched. She missed and went to the ground to kick her clone´s legs. Firekat jumped into the air. She tried to sratch Lioness, but she was fast enough to duck. So Firekat just cut some of her hairs. Lioness whirled around and kicked her clone. Her attack was blocked and the clone grabbed her leg to throw her away. Lioness fell hardly onto the ground, but with a roll she was on her feet again and ready for the next attack.

Hawk avoided the bombs Stingfly shot at him. He ran around, avoided the explosions and tried to hit his clone in any way. Then he got an idea. He picked up a stone and threw it towards his clone. This time Stingfly avoided the stone. Hawk threw one after one. The last stone hit Stinglfy´s wing and he fell onto the ground. "Now let´s see if you can really fight", said Hawk challenging and ducked surprised under a fast kick of his clone who started grinning. "I´m just warming up", said Hawk and attack his clone.

Tilian attacked Axel, but he blocked. He saw his father standing in front of the man with the cape. But he didn´t move. Something was wrong. His father was sent against a tree and fell onto his knees. Axel concentrated on his fight. He and Tilian stood in the near of the cliff and he had to be very careful, one wrong movement and he could fall down the high cliffs and into death. Now Axel avoided an attack of Tilian and ran towards the man. The man with the cape rose his arm and Axel stopped in his move. He couldn´t move as if he was glued to the ground.

"Who are you and what do you want with the dragon?", he asked instead of trying to get free. He knew it was useless, the magic of the man was too strong. Axel´s clone stood behind them and watched the scene. Tilian knew his master could beat Axel easily, so he didn´t try to help him.

"Ha, don´t you really know who I am?", asked the man. Axel shook his head. The man rose his other hand and took off the cape. Slowly the clothes fell onto the ground and Axel could look into the face of the man.

"Lee", he said surprised. He had thought this man was dead. But Lee just grinned evilly. "You´re really a pain in the neck, Manning", he said. Then he waved his arm and Axel rose a few metres high into the air.

"You disappointed me the last time, Tilian", said Lee. With another wave of his hand Lee sent Axel against his clone. Tilian was too surprised to react fast enough. Both fell backwards and over the edge of the cliff. Axel grabbed the cliff with his right arm and held onto it. Tilian grabbed Axel´s leg not to fall down.

Sebastian stood up and didn´t attack Lee. He attacked Firekat. She was the first clone he could reach. With a kick from behind he sent her to the ground. Lioness looked surprised at him, but then something else caught her attention. Axel was a few metres over the ground and high in the air. He didn´t move. Lee stood under him and waved his hand. Axel flew against Tilian and both fell over the edge of the cliff. As fast as she could Lioness ran towards them while Sebastian took care of her clone.

She knelt down at the edge of the cliff and found Axel hanging there. Tilian held onto Axel´s leg. "Give me your other hand", she said and took Axel´s left hand. She tried to pull him up, but both of them were too heavy. She felt that she slowly slided over the ground towards the edge of the cliff. "Li, you´ll fall, too! Let my hand go", said Axel and looked up at her. She shook her head. "Never."

"I don´t want you to fall, too. One last thing before I leave you", he said.

"Don´t say this! You won´t fall!", she said scared. "I could-"

"Cat", he interrupted her. "Please listen! Do...you want to marry me?", he asked. Lioness said nothing. She felt that his hand slipped out of hers and he let the edge of the cliff go. He couldn´t hold onto it, Tilian was too heavy. So they both fell and disappeared in the fog over the sea. Lioness could hear a quiet sound, as if something fell into the water. She felt tears coming up into her eyes.

"Yes, I want", she said quietly, even though she was sure Axel couldn´t hear her anymore.

**I know, I like cliffs . Review, please!**


	51. Midnight

Midnight

Lioness sat there for some moments, until she heard a noise behind her. She whirled around. The clones laid passed out on the ground and the others tried to attack Lee. But the magician just rose his arm and everyone was sent against a tree. There the branches of the trees began to move and like ropes they wrapped around King, Shark, Hawk and Sebastian. Everyone tried to get free, but the branches were too thick and tied them to the tree.

"In some moments the right moment is here, and you all will watch how I´ll get my new power and become the mightiest man in the world", said Lee and took the dragon out of his pocket. He held the pendant over his head and the light of the moon fell onto it. His whole body began to glow silver. It was shortly before midnight, in some moments everything would be over.

"His power is growing, but we still can defeat him. Those branches are too thick", said Sebastian and tried to move. The others tried it, too, but failed. Then they saw Lioness running towards Lee, she tried to attack him. But she suddenly stopped and was unable to move. Lee just looked at her and sent her against a tree, too. Branches were wrapped around her body and she was tied to the tree like her friends.

"Where´s Axel?", asked Sebastian who was tied to the tree next to her. Lioness just stared at the ground and felt the tears coming back into her eyes. As Sebastian saw one of her tears falling onto the ground he suddenly knew what was up. "Oh no", he just said quietly and closed his eyes. Lioness looked at him. He leaned his head against the tree, his eyes were closed. She couldn´t see if he was sad, but she knew it.

"It´s a shame that a son dies earlier than his son. It should be the other way round. Not like now." He kept quiet for a long while. His eyes told Lioness that he was sad that his son had thought him dead for over ten years, now that he was back, his only son was dead.

"Now we´re all lost", he said after a while and looked at her. "We´re tied to some crazy trees and Lee has the dragon. What else could happen now?", interrupted King after a while of listening to their conversation. But then Lioness´s tree let her suddenly go. The branches fell onto the ground, they had been cut. She looked behind the tree, but saw nothing. Quickly she freed Sebastian and her friends.

"Hey, Lee! Look, your trees are too silly to hold us away from you!", yelled Lioness as she ran towards the man. The others followed. But Lee looked at them and they suddenly stopped in their movements. As they gave their hope up again, Lee suddenly let the dragon fall to the ground and he did, too. As he hit the ground the teens and Sebastian looked confused at him.

Behind Lee stood someone. Everyone looked up at the young man who stood there in fighting position. It was Axel. They all looked confused and surprised and most happy at him. "Do you think I would miss my wedding?", he said and smiled as he saw the confused faces of his friends. Then Lioness jumped towards him and fell around his neck. He hugged him and pulled him tight towards her body.

The others came to him and his father looked at him as Lioness let him go. For some time they stood in front of each other, just looking into each others eyes. "You´re making wedding plans without me?", asked Sebastian finally. Then he hugged his son tightly, just like Lioness before. "If you allow it", said Axel. He looked at Lioness. "But I would do it even if I´m not allowed", he added and smiled.

"Why should I say no?" His father smiled.

Suddenly Lee stood up again. Axel noticed this at first and picked up the dragon as fast as he could. Lee looked at them all with furious eyes. Everyone went into fighting position.

"Hey, Axel? Can´t you turn into a dragon again? This would be very helpful now...", asked Hawk and hoped Axel would say yes.

"What? You was able to turn into a dragon?", asked Sebastian and looked at his son. Axel nodded. "But I don´t remember it."

"Do you know what that means? You´re even stronger than I thought. With the dragon you could beat him easily. Just one warrior before you was able to use the power of the dragon and turn into it. Okay, think of our training and try to feel the power of the pendant. Concentrate and-" Sebastian was interrupted by Lee who let him rose into the air. Axel reacted quickly, jumped and pulled his father to the ground while his friends attacked Lee.

Both Jo-Lan warriors hit the ground hardly. Axel stood up again as fast as he could to help his friends. Lee had turned his back to him, he stood over his friends who laid on the ground and were unable to move. "Ehm, Lee? I guess you won´t like this, but let me just say, the dragon is back", said Lioness. Lee was shocked and whirled as he heard the roar of a dragon. He whirled around to see Axel who kicked him hardly.

"I guess you´re no person who likes jokes", said Lioness as she stood up. "Good imitation, Axel", she smirked. Axel just smiled back and bowed to her. "Thanks", he replied.

Lee stood up, too, and rose his arms. Suddenly the ground began to shake. Large clafts went through the ground. The six people jumped away to not fall into a claft. The clafts became bigger and bigger until some pieces of the ground fell into them. Under the ground was a hot, red glowing and smoking liquid. It was lava, the vulcano was activated again.

Lee lost the control over the earth and the vulcano started to spit stones. Axel used this short moment of his confusion to get behind him. He moved forewards and used his Jo-Lan. A lightblue energy wave blasted Lee away and he fell into a claft. "I´ll come back!", he yelled as he fell into the lava. The ground started to shake harder. "We have to get away from here, it´ll break out!", yelled King.

As fast as they could they climbed down the vulcano and avoided stones which flew through the air. As they reached the ground again they noticed the lava ran down the vulcano and towards them. "Faster!", yelled Hawk and they ran toawrds the shore. Behind them the trees began to burn and smoke rose into the air. Glad to see the shore they jumped into the water. Hawk wrapped his arms around Shark´s neck and his friend pulled him through the water.

Some stones landed next to them in the water. Scared they swam faster and ignored their fast breath and their burning lungs. Some minutes later they were far enough away and out of danger. For the next fourty minutes they swam back to the land.

Tired and without any energy they reached the shore. They turned around and saw the vulcano spitting lava, stones and ash into the sky. Smoke rose high into the sky and made the dark sky of the night darker than it was. The teens and the ninja stood up and watched the scene. Sebastian took off his mask and threw it angry on the ground. He looked at the vulcano which spat lava into the air.

"What´s up?", asked Axel worried and looked at his father. He still stared at the burning island. The trees began to burn and the lava reached the shore very slowly. Saska was just a sea of flames.

"I can´t believe that I was that blind! That Lee was my master! Why didn´t I recognize him earlier?", he replied.

"But he´s gone now and everything is over. The dragon is in safe again. That´s what´s counting", said Axel and placed his hand on Sebastian´s shoulder. He looked at his son now.

"You grew very wise in the last months", he said and smiled.

Axel just shrugged his shoulders. "It´s the duty of the dragon", he replied and smiled.

"Good that you mention this. It´s amazing that you have enough spirit power to control the dragon and turn into it. Just like I said one warrior before you made it, he was the one who put the dragon´s energy into the pendant. If you want we can continue our training together and I´ll show you how to use the dragon´s power", said Sebastian. Axel nodded.

"And what I wanted to say at last...I´m sorry that I missed ten important years of your life. But I´m proud of the man you have become", he smiled and Axel hugged his father tightly.

"So this story has a happy ending, hasn´t it?", said Hawk and grinned.

"Yeah, I think so. And I guess Lee won´t appear again in the next time", said Lioness and smiled.

"And our clones, too", smirked Shark.

For a while they all stood at the sandy shore, looking at the burning island Saska. The dragon was in safe again, so they were all very happy that this adventure had a happy ending. The waves broke on the shore and sounded like thunder. And really, there were some clouds at the sky. As the teens looked up at the sky suddenly a thunder growled loudly and it started to rain.

"Oh great", mumbered King with sarcasm and within minutes they were wet all over their bodies.

"Let´s get home, if you have nothing against a ride through rain", suggested Sebastian and smiled a little. As they walked towards their horses Axel suddenly started to run.

"Okay, guys, the last one who´s on his horse has to wash King´s underwair for the next half year!", he shouted and ran through the rain towards his horse.

"Don´t challenge me, I´ll win!", said Hawk and hurried this time not to lose again. As King passed him he put his leg into King´s way so that he fell with his face into the deep mud. Hawk laughed and continued running as he suddenly fell over a stone and landed in the mud, too. King walked slowly past him and looked at Hawk gloatingly. "What did you say?", he asked and walked towards his horse while Hawk stood up.

The others were laughing as Hawk climbed onto his horse. Then they started to ride back to the castle, through the rain and over the plains of Algiswar. For the next thousands of years they wouldn´t have any problems with the dragon. The star constellation would come back then, and even if, they wouldn´t be alive anyway. So they just forgot Axel´s duty.

**So, guys, this was the end of my story! I hope you liked it, and please review! I don´t know if I should continue writing on this story. I asked me the same thing after the battle, some chapters before...(You know, the letter of the blue dragon, before the continuation started!) **

**Tell me if you want me to continue writing. If yes, it could last some time until I can update the first chapter of the "new" continuation, coz I need an idea and some time to think about it.**

**Thanks for reading this very, very long story and I hope you´ll like my other stories, too! Please review! )**


	52. A stranger in the darkness

_**Part III **_

_**of**_

_**The Letter of the blue Dragon**_

A Stranger in the Darkness

_It is really over_, thought Axel as he climbed down the ladder. He still couldn´t believe that Lee and the Mu-Team were gone forever. At least he hoped so. But it had been impossible to escape from the burning island, the lava burned down everything. Even though this was now nearly one month ago Axel couldn´t believe it. _Why do you think it´s impossible? You saw them, they died in the inferno_, he told himself.

After they had come home again Axel and Lioness had decided to build their own house. The new village around the castle was no more a village. Meanwhile it was as big as a town. More than 13 000 rebels lived there. And meanwhile they had built their new homes. Axel had chosen a place for their house a little apart from the town. It was at the beginning of the forest, between some lonely trees. A beautiful place, the river was in the near and the noise of the town was far away.

They had begun to build this house two weeks after they had come home from the island Saska. Of course King, Hawk, Shark and even Sebastian helped the two. The seven were very fast and now there stood the frame of the half-timbered house. King worked on the roof together with Shark while Hawk carried bundles of straw to the ledder. Time to time Shark came down the ladder to carry the straw up to the roof where he and King covered the wooden frame with it.

Sebastian looked at a piece of paper that was fixed to a tree next to the house. It was the building plan. Axel came over to him. "Something wrong?", he asked his father. He was deeply in thoughts. Then he pointed at the right half of the roof. "Those beams look a little weird, don´t they?", he said.

Axel laughed. "Trust me, Garrett made this plan. Everything´s allright", he said.

"Then...he knows how to construct a house, I have never done something like that...you should know I bought our old house when I came to Landmark. So I had no stress with building one." He smiled. "Okay, I´ll help Hawk carrying the straw." With this he left and followed Hawk who laid another bundle under the ladder.

Axel looked after them and smiled a little. It felt so good to have a family again, even though Lioness was his family now. And of course his friends. But they were no real family, not like a father. Axel looked one last time at the techniqual drawing and went over to Lioness. She sawed a long beam into two halfs. With her left hand she held the beam which laid on every end on a large stone. With her other hand she sawed. The beam shook hardly. Axel quickly held the beam so that she could saw easier. She looked up as she noticed the beam stopped shaking.

"Oh, hey", she said and smiled. Her long hair was in a ponytail, as usual. She had tied it up with a green band. She wore a white top and brown pants. Her white top was full of sawdust and more brown than white because of the work. She had laughed at the girls in town as they had said what she was going to do while the guys were building the house. She had just laughed and said she would help them. The girls and women in town had a different attitude towards hard working women who did work for men. But Lioness didn´t care. She wasn´t just a simple girl. She wanted to do something.

"King and Shark are very fast. In the next days we could finish the roof", explained Axel. "After the first level of straw we must tar the roof. Then comes the next level of straw which finishes it."

"But the roof is just one of many things we still have to do. The walls for example. Or everything inside..." Axel looked at the naked frame of the house. King and Shark were climbing on the roof. The first level of straw was nearly finished. Axel and Lioness finished sawing the beam and carried the two halves over to the house. King came to the edge of the roof and looked down.

"Can you reach this beam up here? One of the others got broken, I don´t know why, maybe it was just too rotten. The rain of the last days made it very difficult to build the roof. But now there is just heat all day. Terrible", he said and wiped the sweat away from his forehead.

Axel took the beam and gave it to King who pulled it up. Then he disappeared shortly and came back to take the other half. "Thanks, guys!", he said and went over to the corner of the roof where one beam was missing. He put one of the new ones in and connected it to the rest of the frame.

At midday they had lunch together. Something to eat and to drink stood on a table under a large tree in front of the house.

"If you ask me we can tar the roof after our lunch", suggested Hawk and looked proudly at the roof. "Maybe the sun is shining now and the heat is really terrible, but the next thunderstorm may come sooner than we think." He looked worried at the sky.

"You could be right, dude, if we´re too slowly our two dudes here will have a very wet home", smiled Shark.

"It´s just too bad that you´re so far away from us", said King.

"Oh, come on, every bird leaves his nest after some time", interrupted Hawk.

"He´s right, King. And we can see us every day, that´s no problem. From here to the castle you just have to walk two minutes", replied Axel and drank some water. Lioness stood up.

"I´ll go to town and ask someone for the tar. I´ll come back later, okay?" And with this she left. The men looked after her.

"I´ve never seen a girl asking for tar", said Sebastian. "But times are changing." He shrugged his shoulders jokingly. "I guess in the next time we can´t continue training. But you´re strong enough, even without training. For the next time we can leave it out, but you need to control your power. To become a real Jo-Lan master you must continue training every time and everywhere." He looked at his son.

"I know...what do you think why I chose this place? It´s quiet and peaceful and none disturbs you while training", he grinned.

"Yep, nothing is more important that your Feng Shui", smirked Hawk and stood up, too. "Okay, guys, shall we continue with the walls while Li is fetching the tar?", he asked as he saw the two Jo-Lan warriors frowning at the word _Feng Shui. _Jo-Lan had nothing to do with Feng Shui, so the two just frowned at Hawk´s comment. As they saw Hawk´s face they had to laugh. And King and Shark laughed, too.

Then they all stood up and followed Hawk to the frame. Suddenly a horse-drawn carriage came up to the house. It was Lioness. On the carriage were some barrels. She smiled at the guys and jumped off the carriage after she stopped in front of them. "Here you have your tar", she smiled. "Five barrels full of it. But it was very expensive...I told the farmer that it was for the house of the dragon warrior and at once he made it a lot cheaper. Axel, you´re making life easier!" She smiled.

"I know, I´m good", he said proudly as a joke.

"Nevertheless...did you guys ever think of a real job? We can´t live forever of the money we got after the battle", said Lioness and looked at everyone.

"I knew I would end as a farmer", sighed Hawk.

"Oh, I heard of a job as a royal guard at the castle. Great paid and very close to the place we´re living", suggested King.

"Royal guard? No way, dude, this is too serious for me", said Shark and shook his head. "Maybe the senate needs a pool-boy?"

"A pool-boy? But they don´t even have a pool!"

"Oh...but the guys in the north had one...well, in Nazuma...", replied Shark embarassed.

Then there was silence. "Okay, guys, we should continue working. We can think about jobs later, when we have enough time", interrupted Axel. "When we´re all helping the roof will be tared in less than some hours."

And he was right. They just needed three hours to tar the whole roof. Then came the next level of straw. While the tar was wet they put the straw onto it so it held better. As the sun setted they had finished with the half roof. Carefully they walked over a scaffolding around the house. The tar was very sticky and not easy to wash away from clothes or skin. Moreover it smelled badly.

"We must finish it, even the sun is gone. One advantage is that the heat is not here. But we can´t stop until the roof is finished, otherwise the tar will be too dry the next day", said Lioness. The others agreed.

While Sebastian lit some torches around the house the others carried the straw up onto the roof. The half night they continued working. They ignored their tiredness and their aching muscles. They had to finish the roof. The tar needed at least a day to dry completely. As the roof was finished the teens climbed down the ladder and looked at their work.

"Looks good...we can cut the straw at the edge overthere so that it´s looking like the rest", said King.

"Okay...it´s very late now. You guys should go now", said Lioness and yawned. It was just after midnight. Everyone was tired and their muscles ached a lot. In the last days they had worked hardly on the house. And Axel and Lioness were very happy that their friends helped them. So they were even faster.

"Yeah, you´re right. See you tomorrow!", said Hawk and left together with King, Shark and Sebastian. Sebastian lived in the castle now. He got Axel´s room because his son left it empty.

Axel put out the torches around the house. With one of them he lit a small campfire and sat down next to it. Lioness did, too. Until their house was finished they slept under the stars. It didn´t matter to them. But they wanted to stay in the near of the house, just to stay sure nothing happened and in case IF something happened. _Sounds paranoid_, thought Axel.

"Let´s hope it won´t rain in the next days. At least until the tar dried", he said. He looked absent-minded at the roof.

Lioness looked at him. "What´s up?", she asked him worried. "You´re not just worried because of the roof."

He sighed. "I don´t know. Everything in the last time seemed so unreal. Actually I seem to miss the fights with our clones." He looked at her. "But life continues and those times are over. Now we can finally have a life like everyone else. But that´s what´s bugging me, I guess."

The next days no cloud was in sight. The tar dried and the teens continued their work. Three days later they had finished the walls of a quarter of the house. At the late evening they all decided to stay there.

"We can sleep here in the house. It has no walls yet, but a roof. And see, there are some thunderstorm clouds coming", said King and looked at the sky. In the east some thick, dark and grey clouds came very fast towards them. Lightnings flashed in the distance and half a minute later came the thunder.

"We´ll see if the roof is of a good quality", said Sebastian and looked up at the roof as they went 'into' the house.

"Of course it´s a good quality! I made it!", King defended his skills.

Sebastian waved his hands defensively. "Ignore what I said", he replied quickly. "Ehm...any ideas about the furnishings?", he asked and quickly changed the theme. Axel and Lioness looked at each other.

"Err...there will be the fireplace..." She looked at the fireplace made up of dark stones. The chimney went up along the wall and disappeared in the ceiling. The fireplace had been there since they have started building the house.

"Yeah, Li, we know this since nearly two weeks", said Shark jokingly.

"Okay, let´s think about it...the bedroom will be on the first floor under the roof. The stairs are here then." Axel went to a place next to the wall in opposite of the door. Or the place where the door was supposed to be. There stood just a ladder to reach the other floor.

He sighed. "Here is so many space, I have no idea how to furnish it", said Axel and came back to his friends. They sat down at the fireplace and King lit the fire.

Sebastian just laughed shortly. "Wait for the first child, then you´ll think where the space went you now have!" At once Axel and Lioness blushed.

Outside it started to rain and thunder growled. Lightnings flashed and the rain pattered hardly onto the roof. But nothing came through it. "Dudes? Isn´t it a little creepy that everyone can look through the not finished walls? I mean, who knows who is watching us at the moment", said Shark after a while. He shook a little as he turned around. The light of the fire was just enough for the house, behind the frame was just endless darkness. The wind blew through the bushes and trees.

Everyone laughed. Shark looked at them and didn´t understood why. He found this not funny. But then Axel stopped laughing and rose his hand to show the others to be quiet. They stopped laughing and looked at him. His face turned serious and he stood up. "Shark is right, we´re not alone. Wait here", he said and wanted to go.

"I´ll come with you", whispered Sebastian and stood up, too. He followed his son. Quickly Axel jumped out of the house and landed on someone. He threw this one onto the ground, knelt over him and pressed him to the ground. "Who are you and what do you want?", he asked the shadow. He wore a long, dark coat and Axel couldn´t see his face in the darkness.

The cold rain ran down his face and within seconds he was completely wet. His breath left white clouds in the air, that cold was it. Deep thunder growled over him. With his left hand he pressed the shadow to the ground, his right hand formed a fist and he was ready to attack the person under him.

Then Axel felt a hand on his shoulder. It was his father. "Stand up, she´s a friend", he said. Axel stood up and the shadow did, too. _She?_, asked Axel himself and watched the shadow as she took off her long coat so that he could see her face.

**So, this is the first chapter of the NEW continuation. The continuation of the continuation! Wow, this is going to be the longest story I´ve ever written...this is the 52nd chapter! Imagine that! WOW!!! ...well, could be a trilogy, couldn´t it? The first part is called "The Letter", the second one is "The Dragon" and this one is...err...I´ll tell you a name later, remember me of this again, pls. **

**And please review and tell me what you think of it!!! )**


	53. The forgotten Guardian

The forgotten Guardian

The rest of the team came out of the house. King brought a torch and went over to Sebastian, Axel and the stranger. She put off her coat and the three men looked into the face of a woman. She was in the middle of her fifty´s and had long, darkbrown hair. With her green eyes she looked now at Sebastian. Her face looked friendly, but her clothes were haggled, and a little torn up. She looked tired.

"Aryane", smiled Sebastian and hugged her. "It´s a long time ago."

The woman nodded. "I know. How long? Ten, eleven years? We saw us the last time when you left the temple to stay with your family." She smiled.

"Come in, please, you look very tired and I´m sure you want to rest some time", said Sebastian and led Aryane into the not finished house. After swapping confused looks King and Axel followed.

"Mum!" Lioness ran towards Aryane and hugged her tightly.

"Mum?!" Axel, King, Hawk and Shark looked confused at each other, then at Lioness and her mother.

"Oh, my dear Cat...I haven´t seen you for a very long time. Let me have a look at you", said Aryane and looked at her daughter. Then she smiled. "You changed a lot in the last years."

"Please sit down at the fire. You feel very cold", said Lioness and took the coat of her mother. She hung it on the ladder. Aryane sat down on the ground, the others did, too. Axel saw the similarity of Lioness to her mother. They had a very similar face and the same eyes. Even though Aryane seemed to be fifty or older she still looked beautiful. Her eyes looked curious, wise and friendly.

"Why are you here?", asked Sebastian.

Aryane sighed. "Our people need your help. The help of the dragon warrior. That´s why I came to you", she looked at Axel´s father. He just shook his head.

"I can´t help you, the dragon chose another one. The generations changed. Your daughter found the right one for the dragon", he said. Aryane looked surprised.

"Where can I find him?", she asked.

"He sits next to your daughter."

Aryane looked at Hawk who sat on Lioness´ right side. Axel sat on the other one. "You don´t look like a dragon warrior", she said and looked at Hawk. Everyone laughed. "Hawk as the dragon warrior?", laughed King and fell onto his back. Tears came into his eyes because of the laughter. "Sorry but..." He laughed and held his belly. After some minutes he calmed down and wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"No, Aryane, the dragon warrior is my son", said Sebastian seriously.

"Ah, the young Axel? I can´t see him, the huge ego of this guy is in my view", said Lioness´ mother and looked at Hawk.

"Yep, she´s Lioness mother", he mumbered and went a little backwards so that she could see Axel.

"Can you proof it?", she asked.

Axel showed her the necklace. But she still shook her head. "That doesn´t proof anything. I mean the fleck."

Axel sighed and put off his shirt. Aryane saw the small fleck on his chest and nodded. Axel put on his shirt again. He froze because of the coldness. "Young dragon warrior, the elves need your help", she said.

"Elves? I thought that were just legends and stories", said Axel confused.

"Well, you should know that Aryane is an elf. That was one reason why the Jo-Lan warriors gave the dragon to her. If elves promise something they never brake this promise. So we could trust her", began Sebastian.

"After I got the dragon I went to Brazil where I lived with my husband. He was a normal human being, but nevertheless we married. And we got five children. Four guys and one girl. Each one of them is half an elf. For a long time we lived in Brazil. But then Cat decided to go to Landmark. I saw a chance to find the dragon warrior. I heard that the generations had changed, so the new one would be in her age. I told her of her task and she wanted to do it. So I gave her the dragon and she found the new warrior."

"And why are you here now?", asked Lioness.

"The elves here called me. I had the dragon for a long time. I was one person who could help them. Dark forces attack the elves in their hiding places and the times are hard. The dragon warrior has the potential to help us", explained Aryane.

"And what about dad? And my brothers?", asked Lioness.

"Don´t worry, they are together with the elves at the moment. But this attacks are not the only reason why I was in search of you. Meanwhile you´re old enough to marry Jing, the strongest warrior of the elves. I´m sure you two will be a nice couple", she smirked.

Lioness´ eyes widened. "But I don´t want to marry him!", she said. "I want to marry Axel", she added quietly.

Her mother shook her head. "With the duty of the dragon and with the origin of your blood you accepted the rules of the secret people of elves."

"But none asked me to choose my origin! And you didn´t tell me that when you gave me the dragon!" Lioness stood up, her face turned red because of anger.

"This are our rules. If you don´t accept them you must die..."

Silence came. None said a word. "Then I´ll die", said Lioness seriously and climbed the ladder to the floor under the roof. Then there was silence again.

"Why didn´t you tell me that? I could have prevent this", said Sebastian seriously.

"It was her task to give the right one the dragon, not to fall in love with him!", replied Aryane.

"What do you mean with _preventing this_? What do you want to prevent? Why do you want to destroy my whole life?" Axel stood up now. He got angry. "You can´t kill Lioness just because she doesn´t want to follow your silly rules! And if you do, I´ll die, too", he said and climbed the ladder, too.

Silence.

Axel listened to the conversation down the ladder. He sat on the ground next to the ladder and listened carefully. "He´s right. You will destroy the life of the two. They could have a happy life together and in peace. Why do you want to take this away from them?", asked Sebastian.

"Ehm...if I may interrupt you...is there no way to avoid the rules?", asked King.

"No, I don´t know any other way at the moment. But the thing with the marriage is our smallest problem now. I just came here to ask the dragon warrior for his help. But I guess I need to search another one", sighed Aryane.

"He´ll help you", said Sebastian. "I´m sure he will. Even though you want to destroy his life and the life of your own daughter." Axel noticed a sharp tone in the voice of his father. He knew he wanted him and Lioness together because they were happy then. That was the only thing he wanted for his son. "He has a good heart and will help you", he added.

"We should sleep now, it´s late", said Aryane after a while. King, Shark and Hawk kept quiet over the whole conversation. Moments later there was just silence again. Axel sighed silently and stood up. Lioness was at the window and looked out into the rain. She sat on the ground and stared out of the large window that went from the ground to under the roof.

He sat down next to her. "Hey", he whispered. She rose her head and looked at him. Lioness closed her eyes and leaned with her back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. Axel closed his eyes. Everything could have been so wonderful, so peaceful. But now?

"Now she comes and wants to take this away from us", whispered Lioness as if she could read Axel´s thoughts. He followed her look out of the window. A lightning flashed and thunder growled. The window had no glass yet so the cold wind blew into the house and some rain into their faces. Axel felt a bad feeling in his belly. Something that told him his whole life would change just with the appearance of Mrs Leone.

A long time later the two fell asleep. Sebastian stayed awake the whole night. Shortly after midnight he climbed the ladder and smiled as he saw his son and Lioness sitting there, asleep. Aryane woke up, too. She climbed the ladder, too. She looked sadly at the two.

"Do you really want to destroy this?", whispered Sebastian.

Aryane shook her head. "No, but I have no choice. She must marry Jing or she will die."

"There is always another way than the death. Wait until we´re at the elf hiding place, the eldests will know what to do", he said and climbed down the ladder. Aryane just sighed.

**I know...Aryane was the only name that was in my mind...Hey, she´s an elf, so she needed an exotic name. I have no idea of brazilian names, but she isn´t from Brazil in this story. I hope this doesn´t matter. **

**And please review!!! )**


	54. Desperated Ideas

Desperated Ideas

"Will you help us, young dragon warrior?", asked Aryane the next morning. Axel nodded. "I´ll help you. And if there´s any way for Lioness to marry the one she wants I´ll find out", he said.

"We´ll see what the eldests will say. They know the rules like no one else. But we must go to Rétaran, the land of the elves. They are deeply in the mountains some days north from here", she explained.

"Must we go at once? I mean the house is not finished yet...", interrupted Lioness and looked worried at the naked frame of the house. There was just one quarter completed. Aryane shook her head. "We´ll go in two days", she said and turned around to leave. She disappeared in the near forest.

"Tell me, you´re not worried because of the house. You just want to get some time to do something so you needn´t marry this Jing", said Axel seriously to her.

Lioness turned to go. "I´ll come back later. I have an idea", she said shortly and ran to the castle. Axel looked after her and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Now you have a problem, dude",said Shark behind him. "If she really marries this Jing you won´t need this house", said Hawk.

"Maybe you´re right...but until then I will finish it. Working distracts me at least", he said and smiled at the two guys. But it was a sad smile. "Come on, we have a lot of things to do!"

With clay and straw they made the walls. It was an old technique and often used on half-timbered houses. And if it was dry it held water away and the warmth stayed in the house. Axel worked absent-minded. King carried the clay towards him, Shark and Hawk. Then they put the clay onto a nettingof straw. While Axel was deeply in thoughts he didn´t notice how hard he worked.

Until midday they had finished the half house. While the others made a break Axel continued working. King, Shark and Hawk sat in the high grass under a tree and drank something while they watched him. Sebastian came to them. "I guess he won´t stop working", said Hawk.

"You can wait years, but he won´t stop", said Sebastian and followed the look of the guys. "He´s sometimes very bullheaded. He won´t stop until it is finished. Well, at least the work distracts him and he doesn´t worry all the time."

"Hey, have you seen Lioness?", asked King.

"She went to the castle this morning", replied Sebastian. "I don´t know why, but she looked worried, too. I could tell you some old Chinese sayings for situations like now, but I guess you don´t want to hear them." Sebastian grinned. Shark stood up.

"That´s right. I guess Ax-man needs some help", he said and went over to Axel to help him. The others stood up, too. Then they continued with their work.

Meanwhile Lioness was in the castle. After a moment of hesitation she knocked at Garrett´s lab door. He called her in. "Oh, hey Lioness. What about your house? Is the construction good?", he asked smiling.

"Yeah...the construction is perfect. But this is not the reason why I came here...", she said. Garrett knew something was up.

"What´s up?", he asked.

"...ehm...is it possible to...", she stopped. "...to make a copy of someone?", she asked and looked at Garrett.

"A clone? But we had this theme some time ago and you saw what creatures fought with you", he replied.

"I just want to know if it is possible", she said.

"Of course, you know that. Who do you want to clone?", he got curious.

"Me", she replied shortly. "Just a normal copy that could disappear after some weeks. Nothing forever."

"Why do you want to make a copy of you? Wait, don´t tell me, I don´t want to know it. But I have to disappoint you. I´m not strong enough to do this. It would take a long time and I guess you don´t have this time..."

"How long?", asked Lioness. She hoped he could help her.

"Ehm...let me see...at least three years and a half, three weeks, fourteen hours, fiftynine minutes and fourtyfive seconds", he said and smiled as he saw Lioness´ confused face.

"Three years would have been enough, if you ask me", she said. "But thanks that you tried to help me..." She turned to go.

"If you have a problem you can always come to me", he said. Lioness smiled sadly.

"Thanks, but I guess you can´t help me with this problem." With this she left. She decided to go back to their house. She left the castle and walked slowly over the large fields. It was midday as she arrived at the house. The guys had continued their work and now they made the walls. They could finish them this day if they were as fast as before.

"Where have you been?", asked Axel and looked up of his work.

"I was in the castle, I visited Garret", she said shortly. Then she knelt down next to him and helped him with the clay. He looked at her and frowned. "Tell me what you really did", he said.

She looked into his eyes and sighed. "I asked him to make a clone of me", she said quietly so just Axel could hear her. His eyes widened. "Why that?"

"Listen, I could have hidden here while you all went with my clone to the elves. You would help them and then my clone would marry this Jing. When you come back We can disappear", she explained. "But Garrett can´t make a clone, he´s not strong enough."

"Li, this is no solution", he whispered. "We´ll see, there is a way to avoid the marriage. I know that. We can ask the eldests of the elves", he said. She smiled sadly. Then she continued working.

"At least we can finish the house before we have to leave", he said after a while.

"But we won´t need it. I guess for you alone it´s a little too big, isn´t it?", replied Lioness.

"Stop talking of this, we´ll find a way", said Axel. "By the way, where is your mother?"

Lioness shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea. She went into the forest this morning. I haven´t seen her again." Axel growled something, but continued with his work. The time passed very fast and at the evening they finished the walls.

"Wow, you´re really fast, Axel", said King impressed and looked at the walls. Axel just nodded. "Now everything must dry. If you want you can begin with the furnishing, this is your task", said Axel and looked at Lioness.

"Our task", she corrected. "You´ll live here, too." She smiled. "Ehm...has anyone seen Shark?", asked Hawk and came over to them.

"Dudes, look what I got!" Shark´s voice came from down the small hill. They looked at him. He sat on the carriage and drove it to the entrance of the house. "Look into the back", he smirked. They went to the carriage and looked into it.

"Aw, how sweet! A door!", said Lioness.

"Yeah, a friend of mine give it to me. Looks still good, doesn´t it?" He grinned and King and Axel helped him to install the door.

"We should go and pack our things, Aryane wants to leave tomorrow. We´ll see us next morning at sunrise, okay? Good night!", said King. The others said good night too. Then they followed King back to the castle. Even Sebastian decided to go back. He placed his hand on Axel´s shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Don´t worry, I know there is a way to avoid this marriage. There must be one...", he said.

"What would you choose? The death or a life as the wife of this Jing?", he asked Lioness.

"Definately the death", she replied seriously. "None can force me to marry this guy."

Sebastian nodded and walked away. Axel and Lioness went into their house. The walls were still a little wet. The sun began to set as Lioness lit a fire in the fireplace. Then she sat down next to Axel and leaned her head on his shoulder. He looked at her and smiled a little. "In the last year I nearly died three or more times. But everytime I came back and could escape the death just about inches. Not even this could separate us. And now we´re afraid of a marriage", he said quietly.

She suddenly rose her head, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around her body as he fell on his back. For some moments they laid there and kissed, until Lioness broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. "None will separate us...I´ll choose the death instead of marrying this guy."

"And what do I have from this?", he asked.

"No idea...", she replied.

He sat up again. She laid her head on his lap and looked into his face. He stared into the flames of the fire. "Don´t worry, we´ll make this", she said. "I hope you´ll be right...", mumbered Axel and looked into her eyes. Everything was quiet, just the sound of the flames destroyed this silence.

**Review, pls!!! **


	55. Leaving

Leaving

The next day Shark, Hawk, King and Sebastian came with their horses to the now finished house when the sun rose. They found Axel and Lioness standing in front of it. Everyone had a backpack on his back. But Aryane was not there. The sky was a little yellow in the east and turned slowly orange. No cloud was at the sky, it was supposed to be a very hot day.

"Where is she?", asked King and looked around. His horse neighed and he stroke its neck. Lioness shrugged her shoulders. "I don´t know, I haven´t seen her since yesterday evening."

"I´m here. Are you ready for the journey?", asked Aryane and rode out of the forest. She rode on a white horse and without a saddle. Everyone looked at her. "Elves are riding without saddles and just if the horses allow that", she explained. "They´re our friends, so they´ll help us."

"Then let´s go", said Sebastian and like everyone else he sat on his horse.

Aryane led the group through the forest. She knew the way very well and faster than they had thought they came closer to the mountains. It was a very hot day, but the trees spent a lot of shadows, everyone was glad for that. "Guys, where exactly are the elves?", asked Shark.

"I can´t tell you. It´s a big secret. I have to lead you to it, the last part of our journey is a little difficult. You mustn´t see it", said Aryane.

Axel was the whole day quiet. He said not even a word. If his friends asked him something he just nodded or shook his head. Very rarely he even said _yes _or _no_. But the rest of the time he said nothing. His mood was on a very deep point, he rode behind the group. A little apart from the others where he could think alone. Why did he help the elves? They wanted Lioness to marry someone she didn´t like. But they were people like everyone else, people who had the right to ask for help. It would be wrong not to help them.

They followed the river a long time. Shortly before they reached the spring Aryane turned right and into the mountains. There was a small path. The trees disappeared with the time and yellow grass appeared. But their way ended in front of a high wall. Aryane stopped and looked up at it. "We should rest here. The sun is setting in nearly an hour. Tomorrow we won´t need our horses", she said.

Shark and Hawk lit a fire with some dry grass and some twigs. As there were some flames they grinned at each other proudly. King blew jokingly into the small fire and at once it was put out. The two guys looked angry at King, but said nothing. King just grinned. "What´s up, guys? Is the evil wind too strong for your poor small fire?", he grinned. Shark fetched some new twigs and grass while Hawk tried to lit the fire again.

Sebastian, Aryane, Lioness and Axel sat next to them and watched the scene. _It was her task to give the right one the dragon, not to fall in love with him! _Axel remembered the conversation two days ago. He looked at Aryane. Sebastian noticed his look. "What´s up?", he asked quietly so that the others couldn´t hear him. Axel looked at his father.

"You really ask that?! You´re right, I will help the elves, but I won´t let them get Lioness", replied Axel annoyed. The others looked at him now because he nearly shouted at his father. "I...I´m sorry...I´ll go and search some wood", he said quietly and left.

"You should follow him", said Sebastian to Lioness.

"Why that? She will marry Jing, so it would be better if the contact to _him_ was not that good", interrupted Aryane. Lioness stood up.

"You know my decision. I won´t marry him, I would like to die in torture if you ask me. You can´t force me to do this!" With this she followed Axel. "I hate you", she whispered before she disappeared in the bushes.

Sebastian and Aryane looked after her. Then a shout let them wince. They turned around to see Shark who jumped up cheering. "Oh yeah, tell me, am I good, or am I really good?", he asked. Meanwhile the fire burned very well. Hawk gave Shark a high five. "You´re really good, but I´m still better", grinned Hawk proudly. At the same time Sebastian and Lioness´ mother rolled their eyes.

Lioness followed Axel´s tracks. But suddenly they stopped. She looked around. There were no more tracks, as if he had disappeared. "Axel?", she asked quietly and looked around. She sighed and sat down on the ground and leaned her back against a tree. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at the leaves of a bush in front of her. Then she heard a cracking sound over her head and some leaves fell slowly onto the ground.

As she rose her head Axel landed next to her on the ground. "Sorry to scare you", he said. "I´ve been on the tree. There you have a great view over the whole forest. You can even see the castle at the horizon." He sat down next to her. Slowly he wrapped his left arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder. Then Axel kissed her slowly and closed his eyes as Lioness deepened the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and fell slowly onto her back.

Suddenly he broke the kiss and looked around. Quickly he stood up again. His face turned serious. He showed Lioness to be quiet. "Someone is around. Stay here", he whispered. With a fast move he disappeared in the bushes behind him. Then there was silence. Lioness listened and stood up. Her heart beat faster.

Was there a noise? Where was Axel?

She looked around, but saw just darkness because the sun had setted.

Who was there?

Some leaves rustled as if something was in the bushes.

Did it see me? There is something! Man, why is it so dark...?

She heard a sound behind her and turned around. There stood a dark shadow, much bigger than her. It had the form of a wolf. It growled and showed her its sharp teeth. Lioness took slowly a step backwards. This was no wolf. Its contours were blurry and the skin was completely pitch-black. Just red eyes stared at her and sharp, black teeth were shown.

Why did I forgot my sword?

Her heart beat faster. She couldn´t beat a wolf with her capoeira. Maybe a human being, but not a wolf which was that big. Another sound behind her. Leaves rustled, twigs broke. Someone stood behind her. A skean flew through the air and close past her ear. She ducked quickly. The skean broed into the eye of the wolf. It roared and shook its head wildly. Then it disappeared with a scream of pain in the bushes.

Silence.

Lioness turned around. Axel stood there, still in the position after he had thrown the skean. Slowly he relaxed again and walked over to Lioness. "We should go to the others now", he whispered. His breath was fast, Lioness felt his heart hammering against his chest as he stood close in front of her. She just nodded.

"What was this thing?", she asked.

"I don´t know, but it cost me my skean", replied Axel. As Lioness looked at him he smiled a little. "Okay, forget the skean. But I have the strange feeling that we will meet this thing again."

"Let´s really go back now, before it decides to come back first", said Lioness. Axel nodded. Slowly they walked back to the group. On their way they picked up dry branches for the fire. They put the branches onto the ground next to the fire and sat down next to their friends. It was after midnight. The silver moon stood high at the sky and shined brightly.

"You look very nervous. Did something happen?", asked Aryane Lioness. Lioness looked away and didn´t answer. The others understood. She didn´t want to talk to her mother. She hated her now.

"Axel?", asked Sebastian. Even Axel did nothing. He followed Lioness´ example. His father sighed. "Okay, I can understand that you two are very...angry. But this is no reason not to talk to us", he said.

"Well, this is a very good reason if you ask me", replied Axel shortly. With this he laid on the ground and turned his back to his father and Aryane. He closed his eyes and pretended that he was asleep. Sebastian gave up.

"I don´t want to know if it was my fault that he became that bullheaded", he sighed.

"Think a little, you disappeared ten years, left me alone and nearly killed me on your ninja-missions! This _could_ be one reason why I´m bullheaded", replied Axel ironic over his shoulder. He was really mad at his father. But even more mad at Aryane. Lioness sat there and stared into the flames. Aryane looked at her daughter with a sad face.

"You know I would do everything to help you, Cat. But I can´t. Please do what our rules want", she said. Lioness looked furious at her mother, then she stood up, walked over to Axel and laid down next to him. She clung her body to his one and closed her eyes.

"Man, this is a really hard fight...parents against their own children", whispered Shark to King who just nodded.

"But I can understand them...She would choose the death instead of leaving Axel", replied King quietly.

"Hm...but this won´t help HIM", whispered Hawk. Shark and King shook their heads.

"We´ll see what will happen", said King.

Meanwhile Lioness turned her face to Axel´s. Over his shoulder she could see her mother. "Shouldn´t we tell them of the wolf?", she asked whispering. Axel shrugged his shoulders. "Tomorrow is still enough time...at the moment they are too..."

"...bullheaded?", finished Lioness. He nodded. She nodded slowly in agreement. Then she buried her face in his shirt and closed her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight to his body. "Maybe our last hours together", he whispered. She nodded. They closed both their eyes and moments later they fell asleep.

The whole group didn´t know someone was watching them while they thought themselves in safe. 

**Review!!! Pls dudes, tell me what you think of this and the other chapters...Meanwhile I think I have a name for this last part of the trilogy. I´ll call this last one "The Evil". You´ll understand this in the following chapters, at the moment the story is peaceful...But for how long??? Yeah, something very evil will come and test the friendship of the team... **


	56. Rétaran

Rétaran

The next morning Axel woke up shortly before the sun rose. Lioness still laid next to him, the others were asleep, too. In the east the sky turned a little yellow yet. Slowly he stood up and looked around while he stretched a little. The fire was put out, but it still smoked. He put some soil onto the fire and it stopped smoking. Then Axel went over to his horse and stroke its neck.

As he turned around someone stood behind him. It was Sebastian. "Ready for your training?", he asked.

"I´m not in the mood to fight", replied Axel shortly and put his things into his backpack again. He threw the backpack over his shoulder. "Tell me", began Axel. "Aryane married, too. She´s an elf. Why was she able to marry someone she loved? Why must Lioness marry someone she doesn´t like or she doesn´t know yet?"

"This is very complicated. Aryane had the dragon. But she is a full elf. She could marry whoever she wanted. Lioness is just half an elf, so the rules say she doesn´t belong to the nation of the elves. The rules don´t count", began Sebastian. "But now there´s the difficulty. She accepted the duty of the dragon, and at the same time she accepted the rules of the elves. So she became a _full_ elf, more or less. Not because of her blood, but because of her duty. Even half elves can become full ones if they accept the rules and want to live like the other elves do."

"But there is no marriage mentioned", interrupted Axel and leaned against a tree.

"Not for men. For women. If half-elf-women want to become full elves they must accept the rules _and_ marry a full elf. But Lioness didn´t knew that. She accepted the rules without that she knew it, and now the rules want her to marry. If she doesn´t she hurts the rules and must die."

"Oh great", said Axel with sarcasm. "Why do you know that much about elves?"

"A long time ago the Jo-Lan warriors lived together with the elves and trained together with them. So the spirit power grew even more than today because of the special training of the elves. We learned a lot about the history and everyday life of each other. Unfortunately this friendship got more and more broken so that just a few Jo-Lan warriors are still friends of the elves", replied Sebastian. "Now, are you still mad at me and Aryane?", he asked after a while.

Axel shook his head. "Not really. But I can´t change the rules and Aryane just does what her nation wants", said Axel.

"Trust me, I´ll find a way for you two to stay together. Maybe I can talk to the eldests...let´s hope the best", said his father and turned around to pack his backpack.

After sunrise the others woke up, too. They packed their backpacks and let their horses free. "Trust them. They´ll find the way home", said Aryane surely. Then she put her hand on the high stone wall and spoke some words the others didn´t know.

"You mighty stones of this mountains", translated Sebastian whispering. "Open your gates and let us pass to find the way to Rétaran where the nature and the elves live in peace."

The teens looked at him. "What?! I learned a little of their language...", he said as he noticed the looks on him. Then a gate opened in the wall and showed a small path. King looked at Axel and grinned. "Just like in Athran", he said. Axel nodded.

They followed Aryane through the gate. Then she led the group through a dark tunnel system. Just one torch lit their way. Aryane knew it. Sometimes she turned right, then left and right and left and right, then right again.

"Okay, since here you mustn´t see the way. Please tie this bands around your heads so that you can see nothing", she said and gave everyone a black band. They did what she wanted. Out of nowhere appeared six elf guards and led the small group through the tunnels.

"Don´t touch my hair!" Axel heard Hawk´s voice behind him and had to grin.

Some time later they heard Aryane´s voice. "Welcome to Rétaran!" They took off the bands and were amazed. They stood at the end of the tunnels. The group looked into a very large valley between the high mountains which were like large white walls around the town. In the valley were a lot of high trees. On those trees were treehouses and large stairs made up of wood went up along the trees. Some suspension bridges connected the treehouses.

And on the ground stood some houses, too. No real houses, more huts. Made up of white stone and with straw roofs. High grass grew under the trees and next to the houses, strange looking plants and bright flowers. A creek went along the "street". It was no real street, it was more a very large path. As Aryane led the teens and Sebastian through Rétaran some curious elves looked out of their windows.

"This place is amazing!", said Hawk.

"Wait until you have seen the Hall of the Eldests", said Aryane proudly. They walked past playing children in front of their houses, working men who were smiths or handcraft men and one time they passed a place with some targets. Young elves with long bows, made up of a white wood, shot at them. They were very good and hit the target nearly always in the middle.

They walked over a white bridge as the creek made a curve. "See the Hall of the Eldests", said Aryane and pointed at a large tree that stood in the middle of some other trees. This tree was very large, at least a hundred metres high. And it was really thick. In this tree was a giantic treehouse built with white wood. The windows were made up of bright and colorful glass.

"Wow", said Shark.

"Wow", agreed the others.

"Follow me", said Aryane and went over to something that looked like a lift. It was made up of wood and some ropes went up into the tree. They went into the lift and very slowly it began to move upwards. As they reached the top of the tree they had a look over the whole city of elves. It was an amazing view. Large trees and a lot of elves who walked over the suspension bridges or did their work. Aryane led them into the large treehouse.

They went down a corridor. At the end was a large gate with a lot of colorful pictures of plants, lianas and large leaves. Four guards stood in front of it. Strong elves with fine, but serious faces. They wore interesting armors with silver lines on them. In their hands were wooden lances. They let the group pass as they saw Aryane. The large gate opened and they could step in.

A giantic hall expected the five teens, Sebastian and Aryane. There were large windows which went from the ground to under the roof. In front of the windows was a long table. Five old men sat there. They had long white hair and wore white coats. They stood up as they saw the group. Aryane led the group over to the table where they stopped.

Aryane bowed to the five men, the others followed her example.

"Aryane, did you find the dragon warrior? And would you introduce your fellows to us, please?", said one of them.

"Eldest Grim, yes, I found the dragon warrior, and he wants to help us. This is his team, Zach Hawks, Ollie Sharker, Crey Kingston, Catalina Leone. I guess you still know Sebastian Manning? His son, Axel Manning, is the new dragon warrior", explained Aryane.

"A new dragon warrior?", asked another man. He said something to Axel´s father in a different language. Sebastian listened concentrated and nodded as the man had finished. Then he replied something. The language sounded quickly and somehow beautiful and elegant.

"I guess you are all very tired and want some rest. You can stay here as long as you want. We´ll talk to you tomorrow, young dragon warrior, if you want. Get some rest, you´ll need your energy", said another one of the eldests after a short conversation in the language of the elves.

"Aryane, please show them rooms where they can stay", said another eldest and Aryane bowed to him. "Then we want to talk to you." She nodded and told the others to follow her. They went through some large corridors in silence. None said a word. Then they reached the rooms where the teens could stay.

"We have not a room for each one of you. There are just five. Sebastian, would you mind if you shared a room with your son?"

Sebastian shook his head. "No problem", he replied. Aryane nodded and turned to leave. "The eldests want to talk to me. Excuse me, please." With this she left.

Everyone took a room, but Sebastian, Axel and Lioness didn´t move. "Ehm...would you mind if I shared a room with Lioness?", asked Axel carefully. Sebastian frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "If you want", he replied and smiled a little. Then he disappeared in his room. Axel and Lioness went into their room and threw the backpacks onto the ground. Then they fell on the bed.

"Wow...this room is amazing!", said Axel as he looked around. A lot of plants were in the room, large windows with colorful window frames. A large bed with a curtain, furniture made up of white wood. Everything looked very fine and elegant. Lioness took one of the many pillows in the bed and looked at it. "Oh man, I´ve never dreamed of so many pillows", she said.

"Or of so many pillows in so many colors", smirked Axel.

Someone knocked at the door. Sebastian came in. "Sorry to disturb you, but here´s something for you, Axel", he said and gave Axel a small bundle. He opened it and found there a shirt and pants. Confused he looked at his father. "This reminds me of my Jo-Lan uniform", he said jokingly.

"You should wear this tomorrow when the eldests want to see you. The elves made it with special clothes. It will fit to 100 percent", said Sebastian and closed the door after he went out of the room. Lioness looked around. On the bed she noticed another bundle, it was for her. She opened it curiously and found a dress in it. "Wow, a dress", she said with not many enthusiasm.

"I remember you wore always one after we met the first time", said Axel while he put off his shirt to try on the new clothes.

"Yeah, because of one good reason. You would get distrustful if you saw a woman with pants", she replied and held the dress in front of her. It was as red as wine and had a golden belt. Some fine lines were on the end of the skirt. She put it on.

"Wow, looks good...no, wait...beautiful is the right word", said Axel and smiled. Meanwhile he tried to put on his new shirt. It was darkblue, nearly black and there was a small, orange dragon on the chest. Not bigger than a coin. But it was the symbol of Jo-Lan and showed that he was a Jo-Lan warrior. The pants were nearly black, too. They had a darkbrown belt with golden lines on it.

"I feel strange in this clothes", he said and went over to the mirror. Lioness stood next to him. "Really elegant", she said and grinned.

"Elegant? I call this strange", he replied and turned around to see his back in the mirror.

"Come on, they told us to protect them of whatever...tell me how I shall fight with this long skirt? I can´t even see my own feet!", said Lioness and rose her skirt a little to see her shoes. "At least you´re looking cute in this clothes", she added and looked at Axel.

"Hey, I always do", he smirked. "But this is nothing in contrast to you." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards his body. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest. Axel laid his head on hers and looked into the mirror where he could see their mirror images. He closed his eyes. Then someone knocked at the door again.

This time King, Hawk and Shark came in. They wore new clothes, too. Shark wore yellow clothes with some blue lines on the arms of his shirt. He wore a darkbrown belt, too. Hawk wore blue clothes with some red lines on the sleeves. King had white clothes with orange lines on the sleeves. They looked elegant as if they would go to an importan feast.

"Hey, look what we got!", said Shark and meant their new clothes. "Fits very great and feels fantastic", he smirked.

"What about a small tour through Rétaran?", asked King. "There are so many things to see...we asked your father and he said we should do this."

"And then came a warning...something like..." Hawk stopped shortly and tried to imitate the voice of Sebastian. "_Don´t leave this valley and be careful, some bad and evil spirits are around, I can feel that_...or something like this."

"No, I told you not to leave the valley and to be careful if you met Jing", said a voice behind Hawk. "By the way, my voice is not that deep." Hawk winced as he heard Sebastian behind him and rubbed embarassed his neck. "Err...sorry..."

"I don´t know Jing yet", said Lioness. "So why should he know us?"

"Oh, he has seen you when we came. And I talked to some elves. They said you two would be a great couple...Unfortunately he thinks that, too. He´s a tall guy with long blonde hair and a longbow. You can recognize him easily on the scabbard of his sword, only he has a one which is as red as blood. So be careful", warned Sebastian. "I know the temperament of my son", he added and left the room.

"Yeah, I actually wondered where I got this from", said Axel and grinned.

"I heard that!", said Sebastian before he went into his room.

The five teens laughed and went out of the treehouse to make a short tour through Rétaran, the capital city of the elves.

**Review, please!!! )**


	57. Dangerous Confrontation

Dangerous Confrontation

The five teens took the lift and looked around as they reached the ground. "We should follow this way", suggested King. The others agreed. The sun shined and the wind rustled gently in the leaves. The elves were beautiful people. Even the men had long hair, sometimes blonde, red, black, white or even orange and or a little green. They were often called _beautiful people_. The teens understood why.

For some time they watched a smith who made interesting formed swords with elegant curves and short blades. Hawk wanted to watch an elf who carved a longbow out of the strange white wood they have seen before. Hawk had wanted to buy one of the longbows, but the elf had just laughed as Hawk wanted to know the price. "I´ve never seen a human being like you. Well, you can´t buy this bow, you can win it. Tomorrow is a competition on the field with the targets. Come there and if you win at least the third place I´ll give you this bow and five arrows", smiled the elf friendly.

Of course Hawk would go to the competition. The team walked through the whole city and watched the everyday life of the elves. One time they saw a group of young men who were training a martial art on a small field next to the creek. It looked a little bit like Jo-Lan. "My father told me that the elves and the Jo-Lan warriors had trained together a long time ago. I guess they showed each other some moves", explained Axel as they walked past the field.

As they walked back to the Hall of the Eldests the sun was about to set. They wanted to go into the lift, but suddenly Shark pulled them all behind the corner of a house. "Look, there is this Jing dude", he whispered and pointed at a young elf with a scabbard as red as blood. He had long blonde hair and in his hands a white longbow. On his back were the arrows.

"Seems as if he trained some moments ago", said King.

"Hm...he is cute", said Lioness.

"Li!", hissed the guys together.

"Okay, okay...just a joke to test your reaction."

"Whe- where is he?", asked Hawk. Jing was gone. They looked confused at the place where he had been. As they heard a noise behind them they whirled around and saw the young elf standing there. At once the guys placed in front of Lioness so that he couldn´t see her.

"So you are the friends of the dragon warrior? I´m Jing", said the young elf and smiled at them. He gave everyone his hand. "What about the lady behind you?", he asked.

"Err...which lady?", asked King innocent as if he didn´t know that Lioness stood behind him.

"I mean Catalina Leone, my future wife", he grinned. Lioness got angry and pushed the guys in front of her gently away so that she could look into Jing´s face. He smiled and took her hand to kiss it. She let him do. With an emotionless face she looked at Jing. "You´re as beautiful as the sunrise itself", he said. Lioness´ face turned friendly and she smiled.

"Oh, really?", she asked.

Axel got angry. He wanted this guy to go away. But King held him back as he wanted to go towards the two. "Wait", he just said and nodded towards Lioness. Axel followed his look.

Lioness´ smile disappeared and she looked angry at Jing. "If you think I will marry you, then you´re wrong! I would like to die under the hardest torture on earth before I´m marrying you!", she spat this at him like a furious cat.

"Beautiful and full of temperament", smirked Jing and bowed to her. Lioness was confused about that. She just looked at him as he took her hands. His face came closer to hers. "You´re as beautiful as the sunrise itself and as full of temperament as the colors of the sunset in a summer evening", he whispered. Somehow Lioness blushed and looked deeply into Jing´s eyes.

Axel got sick of this and walked towards them. "Slowly, Romeo, didn´t you understand her? She doesn´t want to be together with you", he said and tried to control his anger. He just wanted Jing to go away. Jing took a step backwards and smiled at Axel.

"So it´s true...she fell in love with the dragon warrior. With a simple human being. She deserved something better", he said and grinned. Axel just growled something as his hands formed fists. He really shook because of the anger which went slowly through his body and made his mind blind. He felt a soft hand on his. It was Lioness. "You can´t change the rules. You´re just a simple man with dirty blood", said Jing and turned to go.

Only as Jing disappeared behind the next corner Axel relaxed a little, but still he stared after the elf. "I´ll kill him for this", growled Axel. "And what about you? You believed him and enjoyed your meeting. I guess you changed your decision and wanna marry him", he said to Lioness, still angry.

"What? Why should I do this?!", asked Lioness she got angry, too.

"Of course you´re blushing just for fun. And the way you looked at him was not normal", replied Axel. Lioness looked surprised at him. "A-"

"And if you want to know", he cut her off. "Yes, I am jealous." With this he turned around and walked away. Lioness and the others just looked after him with surprised and shocked faces.

"I knew it, we shouldn´t have asked him to come with us. Sebastian was right, he´s really full of temper", said King.

Axel went down the corridor to his room. In front of the door he stopped. It was the room of Lioness, too. "Oh great", he said quietly, then he knocked at another door and waited until he was allowed to come in.

"Great show, really great show", said his father as Axel came in. He stood on a small balcony outside the room from where he had watched everything. He sighed. "Axel, you must learn to control your feelings. It was not right what Jing did, but you shouldn´t have acted like that."

Axel came over to him and leaned with his ams on the wooden rail. He saw Lioness, Hawk, Shark and King going into the lift. "He said my blood is dirty", replied Axel after a while. "What does he think who he is? He´s not better than everyone else!"

Sebastian just laughed. "Elves are very vain. They always think they´re better. But this is no reason to say the blood of humans is dirty, that´s right. Some elves still think their blood is clean and pure. Maybe they live a little longer than we do, but their blood is the same as we have", he explained. "Ignore this."

Axel growled something. "I was wondering why Hawk was no elf", he said quietly and had to grin a little.

"But this seems not to be the only thing that drives you furious", noticed Sebastian. He looked at his son. "You´re not yourself. Some evil forces are around which have an influence in your behavior. You´re the one with the dragon. So just breath deeply and try to calm down whenever you think something bad is in you that makes you furious. The anger makes you blind and then you can´t fight it. And if I were you I would apologize to her", said Sebastian.

"Can you read thoughts?", asked Axel and looked up.

"No, I said this as your Jo-Lan teacher and as your father, I must know about such things", he smirked. "And if you want to share a room with her I would go to her and say sorry."

"Who says I must share a room with her?", asked Axel.

"Right, you share a bed", said Sebastian before Axel could say something. "That makes everything more difficult. Well, you could saw it in the middle so that-"

"You´re joking me, aren´t you? This is serious! You always tell me to stay serious and to practise my Jo-Lan and all the other stuff."

"I know that this is serious, but I tried to lighten your mood. Of course it was just a joke. Hey, I´ve been ten years alone on my ninja-missions, I missed it to have a real conversation" smirked Sebastian. "Well, the solution is easier than you think. Go to her and tell her that you´re sorry. She should be in her room in three...two...one..."

They heard a door closing. Axel looked surprised at his father. "You need some time until you´re here and you can count this in seconds", he explained shortly. "Now, go and tell her", he added.

Axel nodded and left the room. Quietly he went into his and Lioness´ one. She sat on the bed and stared at the ground. Slowly he went over to her and sat down next to her. "What do you want here?", she asked quietly.

"If you didn´t notice it, this is my room, too. This is the problem when we are together in one room, we can´t avoid each other", he replied. "I wanted to tell you that I´m sorry..."

"You always say you´re sorry and some time later we´re arguing again! That´s terrible if you´re jealous", she said angry. "But I don´t want anything from Jing. I hate this guy. You should have noticed that."

"But I-"

"You don´t know anything!", she cut him off and stood up. He did, too. "I told him that I didn´t want to marry him, you heard that! Why did you argue with him?! I can´t understand wh-"

He suddenly cut her off with a kiss. Surprised Lioness deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. A tear rolled down her cheek and fell silently onto the ground as she broke their kiss. She laid her head on his chest while he wrapped his arms tightly around her. He never wanted to let her go. "Do you know this feeling? When you want to cry and you can´t", she asked whispering. He nodded.

Axel pushed her gently away. "You should sleep now, the sun setted and it was a terrible day. I´ll come later, I have to do something", he said. Lioness just nodded and looked after Axel as he went out of the room.

He went to his father. "I have one last question to you", said Axel as he came in. Sebastian sat at his desk and wrote something on a piece of paper. He looked up and saw his son coming in. "Those evil forces who made me furious...is this normal? Can I do something against it?", asked Axel. Slowly Sebastian put the feather into the small bottle of ink.

"The key to this is concentration. If your spirit power and your concentration are big enough you can ignore those evil forces. They feel the power of the dragon, but it´s not the dragon they want. It´s something different. They see a danger in you and want to make you blind. A blind warrior can´t fight and is an easy victim. Promise me one thing, work on your concentration and trust Lioness that she won´t fall in love with Jing. I mean she´s in love with you, so why should she want to be together with him? But it´s not my decision what she´ll do. Whatever she´ll choose, promise me that you will accept her decision. If you really love her, you should do what would be the best for her", said his father.

Axel thought for some seconds. Then he left. "Thanks", he said and closed the door. He went back to Lioness who laid in the bed. She was asleep. He smiled a little. Some minutes later he wanted to go to bed, too. He laid on the bed and pulled the blanket up to his chin. Something small and soft fell onto his head. He sat up. It was a small pillow.

"Man, those elves have a thing for pillows", he mumbered and put the pillow away. As he fell back onto his back and closed his eyes something fell on his head again. And again it was a pillow. He sat up. "Not again...", he mumbered as he laid back again. Something fell on his head a third time. This time he sat up and turned around. Those pillows were annoying.

"Is this an invasion?!", he asked himself quietly.

"Amazing how a pillow can make you angry", said Lioness quietly and giggled.

"I´m not angry. I´m annoyed because of this crazy colorful things", replied Axel.

"Yeah, me too. Didn´t you notice I put all the pillows onto your side?", she grinned.

"Well it was just a hunch, but yes, I noticed this", he said and looked at the hill of pillows behind him. Then he went onto Lioness´ side of the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"So, now those things are far away from me", he mumbered. Lioness felt his warm breath in her neck. Moments later she felt his breath getting more regular and slowlier. She took his hand and stroke it absent-minded while she stared into the darkness. For the moment she was happy to be together with him. But what if there was no way exept the death to avoid the marriage? Lioness was sure, she would die for Axel. And he would do the same for her. Tired she closed her eyes and moments later she fell into an uncalm sleep.

**Please review, dudes! )**


	58. The Eldests

The Eldests

The next morning Lioness woke up Axel with a soft kiss. He opened his eyes and looked sleeply at her. "What´s up?", he asked and yawned. Then he saw that Lioness was dressed and ready. "Did you forget it?", she asked. He mumbered something tired and turned around. He buried his face in his pillow. "Forgot what?", he asked through the pillow.

"The eldests want to see you! You really forgot this!"

"Well...I still have some time", came the very tired answer. He was half asleep.

"You´re like a little child which doesn´t want to stand up, do you know that?" Lioness grinned and pulled the blanket away. Axel laid there in his undershirt and boxers and wrapped his arms around his chest because he froze a little. "And if you want to know, you have no time. They want to see you now. As you didn´t come they decided to come to you. Now I wanted to wake you up before they´re coming", said Lioness.

At once he sat up and his tiredness seemed to be gone. "What?! What´s the time?", he asked and looked at her shocked. Quickly he jumped out of the bed and into his pants. Then he put on his shirt as fast as he could.

"Nearly midday", replied Lioness.

"Oh man", he said and put on his shoes. "Can I go to them or am I looking too bad?", he asked nervous and looked into the mirror. His hair was tousled and he looked still tired. "Doesn´t matter, I have no time for this now." He headed for the door but Lioness just laughed and held him back.

"What?!", he asked confused.

"Calm down. You have as much time as you want. It´s shortly after sunrise and the eldests want to see you before midday. Calm down, there´s enough time", she said laughing. "But you should have seen how fast you´ve jumped out of the bed as I told you you were too late!"

Axel came slowly back to her and stopped close in front of her. His face turned serious and he crossed his arms in front of his chest. He looked at Lioness with a serious face. She stopped laughing.

"So, you think throwing a guy who didn´t sleep very well out of his bed shortly after sunrise is funny? You teased the wrong guy, Catalina Leone", he said seriously. He took a step towards her. Lioness went a step backwards. Whatever he was about to do, it wouldn´t be good for her. Suddenly he grabbed her and threw her onto the bed. Then he started tickling her. Lioness screamed and laughed and tried to escape but couldn´t.

"This is not funny!", she shouted with a red face and laughed until she couldn´t breath. He stopped and Lioness caught her breath. As she sat up again Axel pulled her into a breathless kiss.

"I guess I should go now", he said and stood up after he broke the kiss.

"The others and I will come with you. Well, exept Hawk, he´s on the competition because of the bow he wants to have", said Lioness and stood up, too. As they went out of the room they met King, Shark and Sebastian.

"What did you do that Lioness screamed that much?", asked Shark curious.

Axel grinned. "I´ll just say three words: She is ticklish", he said.

They went down the corridor and towards the hall where the eldests were. The guards let them pass and opened the large gate. The five eldests sat behind the long table. The small group went in and stopped in front of this table. Grim, the oldest of them, stood up.

"Axel Manning, son of Sebastian Manning, you are the dragon warrior. Will you help the people of the elves to defeat the evil forces which are about to eleminate every elf?", he asked.

Axel nodded. "I will", he replied. "But please tell me, what exactly are those evil forces?"

"Of course we´ll tell you. Since some time dark shadows in form of wolves attack the villages around us. They kill everyone in their way. And after they appeared a big fire destroys everything, kill everyone who survived. It´s terrible. But none knows where this wolves come from or who their master is. Something very evil tells them to do this. They have no real body and are nearly shadows. Their eyes glow as red as the flames of the fire that comes after them. And their teeth and claws are pure venom", explained Grim.

Axel remembered the wolf in the forest before they came into the mountains. "And what is my task now?", asked Axel and bowed to the eldests.

"You, young dragon warrior, must stop those wolves. Find out who their master is and where they come from. Defeat them all and make sure they´ll never come back", replied another one of the eldests. "You can start at once if you wish. When you all come back into your rooms you´ll find something that could help you to defeat the wolves."

"But we tell you, be careful. Last week we sent threehundred soldiers to catch those wolves, but they disappeared without any trace. So we just want to warn you", said another eldest.

"Is there something else you want to know? I can see something is on your heart", said Grim as he noticed Axel´s nervousity. He had wanted to ask them because of the marriage.

"Yes, there would be something. Catalina is forced to marry this man, Jing. But she didn´t knew that she accepted your rules as she accepted the duty of the dragon. She doesn´t want to marry Jing because she...", he stopped.

Grim nodded. "...because she fell in love with the dragon warrior. Of course we noticed this. But laws are laws. We can´t change them. Elian, do you remember a way to avoid the rules?"

Elian, an eldest with a long white beard looked at Grim. "I´m old...nearly fivehundred years...I don´t remember it very well, but I think there was one way..."

"Elian is the only one who knows that", explained Grim. "But we can do this after the wolves are gone, I think you all know that this is more important. And for your both will we´ll try to find this way", smiled Grim friendly. Axel thanked him and bowed again, just like the others. Then they left.

"What will we do now?", asked King Axel as they followed him back to their rooms. He walked very fast.

"First of all I´ll pack my things. I´ll go to a burned village maybe two days from here. The wolves have been there at last. Maybe I can find some tracks which lead me to them", said Axel.

"I, I , I! Of course we´ll come with you, this is no question!", said Lioness.

"Okay, but we need to catch Hawk before we´re leaving", replied Axel and went into their room, Lioness followed him. On the bed laid something for Lioness. Sebastian came in.

"Axel, come here, I´ve got something for you", he said. Axel nodded and followed him. Lioness followed them curiously. On the second bed in Sebastian´s room, which had supposed to be Axel´s one, laid an elfin sword, a white bow with arrows, a skean, new clothes and something wrapped in some clothes. He opened it, in the small bundle was bread.

"Wow, looks good, as if you wanted to fight in a battle, dude", said Shark and looked at the weapons. Axel picked up the new uniform and looked at it. "Great, another elfin uniform", said Axel and grinned.

"Guys, get ready, we´ll leave in one hour", said Axel, took the things on the bed and carried them into his room. He placed them on the bed and looked at the weapons. Lioness came in and closed the door.

"You get a lot of weapons and a new uniform...let´s have a look what I got", she said and looked at the things on her bed. "Looks not bad, new clothes, a sword and...bread. I hope this are pants and no skirt. I hate fighting with a skirt!"

Axel grinned and put on the new uniform. It was mostly black, but had some orange parts and lines too. There was the Jo-Lan dragon on his chest again. He put on his belt and tied the sword to it. He pulled it out of the scabbard and looked at the well formed blade. The scabbard was darkblue and had some thin silver lines on it. The sword had some darkblue lines on the beginning of the blade. He put it back into the scabbard and looked at the bow. It was very long and went from the ground up to his chest.

The wood was white with black ornaments on it. The arrows were white, too, and had black feathers. Axel put the bread into his backpack, just like some other small things. Then he tied the skean to his belt, too. He put the sheath for the arrows on his back and picked up the bow. He looked at Lioness and smiled. "And what do you think?", he asked.

"Ehm...not bad for a battle", she replied while she put on her new clothes. "Well, at least I have pants", she grinned. Her uniform was green with thin yellow and white lines around the arms. She had a black belt for the sword.

"Okay, now we have still some time. Let´s go and watch Hawk while we´re waiting for the others", suggested Axel and wanted to go out of the room.

"Wait, you´ll take everything with you?", she asked and looked at his weapons. He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?", he grinned and left the room. Lioness smiled a little. "Show-off", she said quietly and followed him.

A lot of elves were on the target-field. Axel and Lioness saw Hawk and went over to him. "And how are you doing?", asked Lioness. Hawk sighed. "Looks bad...those elves are very good", he replied and checked his arrows. Then he noticed Axel´s bow.

"Do you want to shoot, too?", he asked confused.

Axel shook his head. "No, honestly I can´t shoot with a bow", he smirked. "It was a gift from the elves."

"You´re lucky, this is a very good bow...man, I must win at least the third place", said Hawk. "But don´t worry, a guy like me can´t lose."

"If you think so", said Lioness.

Now it was Hawk´s turn to shoot. He hit two times the exact middle. He had one arrow on his bow. Slowly he strained the string until his hand reached his chin. He aimed a long time. Concentrated he searched his aim. Then he let the string go and the arrow flew through the air. It hit the target just a little away from the other arrows before, but still in the middle.

At the end Hawk won the second place. The first price went to an elf. "Three guesses who won?", asked Hawk as he came proudly over to Axel and Lioness. "Jing. This show-off cheated, I know that."

"But you´ll get your bow", said Lioness. "That´s what´s counting."

"Good morning, beautiful lady", said a voice behind them. _Oh please not..._thought Axel as he turned around. Jing came over to Lioness and took her hand to kiss it. She let it happen, but looked carefully at Axel. Jing held in his hand a white longbow. On his back were the arrows with red feathers.

"You shot not bad for a bird", said Jing to Hawk. Hawk just growled something. "And I see you have a bow too? Why didn´t you shoot? Too afraid to lose?", asked Jing as he noticed Axel´s bow.

"Believe me, I could beat you everytime", replied Axel angry. But then he noticed what he had said. He couldn´t use a bow, he had never shot before.

"Do you want to challenge me? Well, if you want...Three arrows, the one who hits the target in the exact middle three times is the winner", said Jing and offered Axel his hand. Axel took his hand and they made a deal.

"Then let´s start."

The elves who wanted to go turned around as they saw two bowmen standing on the field. Hawk whispered some tips to Axel. He just nodded. His heart beat very fast, this was his chance to show Jing what he really could do. Jing strained his bow and the first arrow hit the target perfectly. Nervously Axel strained the string, he pulled it slowly to his chin. It was very difficult to strain it, he needed a lot of power.

Instinctiv he aimed at the target. Seconds passed. Then Axel let the string go and the arrow flew through the air. He closed his eyes because he was afraid to see if the arrow had hit the target. As he opened his eyes he saw that the arrow had bored into the exact middle of the target. In his mind Axel cheered. Then he took the next arrow. Again it hit the target perfectly.

Axel was surprised. As he took the last arrow he had a good feeling. Something in him told him what to do. He let the string go and the arrow hit the target again in the middle. He looked over to Jing. His last arrow hit the target in the middle, too.

"Okay, one more arrow. If this one doesn´t hit the target you lose", said Jing and took his next arrow. Axel did, too. Jing shot and hit the target in the middle. Axel strained the string concentrated. But as he let the string go the arrow flew a very strange curve and flew back towards Axel. Before the arrow could hit him he jumped away and the arrow bored into the ground. Scared he looked at Jing who just grinned.

"You lost", he said.

** Review!!! **


	59. Evil Forces

Evil forces

There was silence on the field. Everyone looked at Jing. Then the elves around walked away. As they were gone Lioness stepped towards Axel who still stared surprised and mostly shocked at the elf. "You cheated, an arrow can´t take a curve to fly back to the bowman!", shouted Lioness at Jing. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"Your friend is in our world now. Here are different rules. No one said a word that I´m not allowed to use magic", grinned Jing.

Before Axel could say something Hawk and Lioness cut him off. "Let´s go now, this lizard is too disgusting", whispered Lioness. The three left the field and Jing looked after them with a grin. "Don´t challenge me, human being, you´ll lose everytime."

"Thanks, this guy is really annoying me and a longer time I can´t stay calm in his near", said Axel as they were far away from Jing.

"But you´re really good with the bow! Well, not as good as me, but for the beginning...", said Hawk.

"He´s right, I guess you would have won if Jing didn´t cheat", added Lioness.

"We should go to the others now, then we can go", said Axel after a long moment of silence. Hawk and Lioness nodded. King, Shark and Sebastian waited in front of the lift to the Hall of the Eldests.

"Wow, dude, you´re looking as if you´ve been awake three whole days!", said Shark as he saw Axel´s face. Axel just shrugged his shoulders. "I didn´t sleep very well this night and this morning someone woke me up shortly after sunrise." His voice turned a little louder at the last part of his sentence and he looked at Lioness who quickly looked innocent away. "And then I had the pleasure to talk with Jing", added Axel.

"Sounds like you had a very funny day", said King.

"Let´s go now", replied Axel shortly. They went through Rétaran. A tunnel led them out of the valley. In the tunnel was it very dark and wet. The air was heavy and some drops fell from the ceiling to the ground. The sound echoed loudly. Only one torch spent light for the six ones in the tunnel, just enough to see something. Like a snake the tunnel went through the mountains.

At the end of the tunnels they stood in a large valley. Yellow grass grew here and just some bushes. At the horizon were more mountains. The sun burned down and the air was even more heavy than in the tunnels. "The village is behind the mountains at the horizon", said Sebastian and looked at a map they got from the elves. Shark moaned and looked tortured at the large and treeless plain.

"Why didn´t we bring our horses here?", he asked.

"The tunnels are not big enough for them. We have to walk", replied Lioness.

Without any other word they started walking. It was very hard to walk under the burning sun. They stopped at least every half hour to drink something. It was surprising hot. The dry grass cracked under their feet. Axel and Sebastian walked a little apart from the others. "You said that the evil forces want me to get blind. Blind of anger and rage. So, how are they doing this? Can they control my feelings?", asked Axel.

"Not really. I don´t know exactly how they´re doing this, but they live of the anger and hate of the people. They become stronger if your negative feelings become stronger. And they use your anger to make it even stronger. Even if you don´t want it. Something bad is around. And be careful with your hate, it could destroy you. When the evil forces intensify your hate you won´t notice what you´re doing. If you don´t have the concentration and the spirit power to fight it, you´ll be lost in your own anger."

"Why do you know that?", asked Axel interested. He was a little afraid of those evil forces who could intensify his negative feelings.

"Grim told me. Elves can feel this too. The evil forces intensify their negative feelings just like they do with you. We others don´t notice it because we are no elves. And we don´t have the dragon. I just feel it a little because I _had_ the dragon a long time ago. It´s not the dragon itself, it´s the magic it gave into your blood", replied Sebastian warning.

They walked the whole day. When the sun setted they were very close to the mountains. Between some large rocks they decided to rest. Axel lit a fire, King helped him. Shark and Hawk were in search of ANY wood around. They just brought some thin twigs and three branches. "Not much here to make a fire", said Hawk.

"Not much?! Dude, here is nothing!"

"But we found some twigs."

"I guess they laid there since a thousand years ago."

"Sure? Here were some trees a long time ago."

"Yeah, a long time ago. But NOW here is nothing, dude!"

"But we found twigs!"

"Don´t you check it?! Here is nothing and the twigs were there since at least thousand years!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Wow, I never thought this could be a reason to argue", said King and sat down next to the small fire.

"The two can always find a reason to argue", replied Axel.

"I know two other ones", said King and looked at Axel and Lioness.

"What?! We´re very, very peaceful..."

"As if! It´s always like the same scheme. You two snap at each other, very loudly I have to say, you can´t understand each other and then you´re going separated ways. Well, for the next hour. Then you get together again with a big SORRY", explained King. "The longest argue between you was when you thought Lioness worked for the ninjas. And then you even rode away to-"

"King, we know it now", said Axel interrupting.

"Okay, I just wanted to remember you", smirked King. Shark and Hawk were still arguing. "Hey, guys! Listen, twenty years ago was a forest here and some twigs are left. Is this good enough for you?"

Hawk and Shark looked at the same time at King. "Really?", they asked together.

"Yepp, the elves told me. The forest burned and now here is a treeless plain."

"Oh." Quietly, really quietly, the two sat down at the fire. "This is much better", said Lioness and laid back into the grass. She stared at the darkblue sky which was full of stars. The moon stood not very high at the sky.

Sebastian seemed to remember something. He looked at Axel and smiled. "Tomorrow is y-"

"Don´t say it! One word and something bad will happen", interrupted Axel before his father could say something. Disappointed Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. "Then not", he said. "I thought you would be happy that I didn´t forget it."

"Who forgot what?", asked Shark and sat up. He had laid in the grass, too.

"Nothing", replied Axel shortly. Shark shrugged his shoulders and laid back again. He disappeared in the high grass. Axel laid into the grass, too.

"Please tell us, what is tomorrow?", asked Hawk Sebastian. Quickly Axel sat up again and looked at his father. "One word and I...well...I´ll break your ninja-sword", he said. Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. "It´s very old and in the last ten years it was used very often. A stone is sharper", he said. "Give up, you can´t threaten me", he smirked.

"Then I...Well, it would be very nice if you said nothing, okay?" With this Axel disappeared in the grass again.

"So, what is tomorrow?", asked Hawk again. Sebastian just shook his head. "I have no idea. And I have no idea why my dear son doesn´t want to tell it his friends. Well, not my problem. Ask_ him _if you want to know it." Axel´s father laid back, too and disappeared in the high grass. King laid back, too. Now Hawk just sat there alone at the fire while the others laid on the ground and tried to sleep.

"If you can´t do something against it, give up and do it with them", he mumbered and laid into the grass, too.

In the late night Axel woke suddenly up. He sat up and looked around. There had been a noise, he was sure of that. Everything around him was dark, the fire was put out and smoked a little. There were heavy footsteps. Axel listened carefully. The noise came from behind a rock. Axel stood quietly up and sneaked over to it. His heart beat faster and he suddenly felt an unnatural big fear in his body.

_The evil forces must be around...fear is a negative feeling, they intensify it...concentration..._

He ducked behind the rock and took a deep breath in to concentrate. From behind the rock came the sound again. It sounded like the growl of a big animal. Then there was silence again.

_It´s still there. _Don´t touch their teeth or claws, they´re like venom_ had the eldests said. I guess I must use my sword..._

Axel touched the scabbard of the elfin sword. He stood up, very slowly so that the animal couldn´t hear him.

_It must be a wolf again. Man, this fear is annoying! Okay, stay calm, concentrate...Now!_

He jumped out of his hiding place and pulled his sword out of its scabbard. In front of him stood the large wolf. It had just one eye. _The wolf I hit in the forest before we came to the elves...I guess he isn´t very happy to see me again. I´m not afraid...concentration...this fear is a little too strong. Concentration, Manning! _

The wolf jumped towards Axel, but he could avoid this attack at the last moment. He swang his sword and hit the shoulder of the wolf. It growled and roared in pain, with furious eyes it attacked Axel again. He ducked under a bite. "I guess I´m too fast for you!", said Axel and stang his sword into the leg of the shadow. It growled and screamed again.

It swang its tail and Axel was too surprised to jump away. The tail hit him and he was thrown against a rock. He moaned in pain as he fell onto his knees. The wolf wanted to scratch him with its claws, but Axel jumped out of the way so that the claws left three deep scratches in the stone. "I guess you´re Firekat´s older brother", smirked Axel and stood up again.

With one jump the wolf landed on Axel and pressed him to the ground. His sword fell out of his hands and he couldn´t move. He felt the sharp claws of the wolf. They were really like venom. Slowly a sharp pain crept through the places where the claws touched his shirt. Even through the shirt he felt it. His face cramped in pain and he tried not to scream.

Before the wolf could bite him it suddenly screamed in pain and jumped backwards. An arrow was in its side. Hawk stood on a rock and aimed with his next arrow at the beast. The second arrow bored into the wolf´s neck. Another arrow bored into its head. Screaming it fell onto the ground, darkred blood streamed out of the wounds. Then the wolf disappeared in a red glowing light and was gone.

Axel stood slowly up. "Thanks", he said breathless to Hawk who just nodded. "You see, I´m very helpful. Is everything okay? You seem to be injured."

"No, I´m fine. I just need some sleep, that´s all", replied Axel. Hawk shrugged his shoulders. Tired Axel fell into the grass again and closed his eyes. This had been no normal wolf. It was too big and as it was dead it disappeared in this red light. Creepy. Just like the eldests had said, this was an evil spirit. But they had said _wolves_ had attacked the village, so more than just one.

Moments later there was silence again. This fight had cost Axel a lot of energy, to his surprise. Normally he could fight at least half an hour with an enemy like Tilian. So an enemy with the same skills. His shoulders still ached a little. The claws of the wolf had touched him there. He closed his eyes in pain and touched the wounds shortly. He winced in pain. Later he fell into an unregular sleep.

**Please review! )**


	60. Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday?

Someone shook him. Tired he opened his eyes and looked into the face of his father. "Wake up, you slept long enough. We´re all awake yet. And by the way, happy birthday", he said and smiled. Axel turned around again. This was going to be the worst day of his life. He felt not very good. With aching muscles he stood up and stretched. The others were ready and stood there with their backpacks.

"What? Birthday? Who?", asked Shark. He had heard Sebastian. Axel rolled his eyes and growled something. "Axel? It´s your birthday?", asked King. "Why didn´t you tell us?"

"I didn´t want everyone to know it", he replied shortly.

"How old are you now? Nineteen?", asked Sebastian.

"Nineteen", replied Axel quietly and wanted to go.

"Hey, wait! When we´re back we must celebrate this!", suggested Lioness. "Yeah, man, with a big party! Dude, this will be great! And then we-"

"Listen, this is a normal day, like everyday else! You needn´t celebrate anything!", interrupted Axel annoyed. "We should go now." He turned around and walked away. Everyone looked at him in surprise. Some moments later they followed him.

Axel´s shoulders ached a lot, but he ignored it. He walked a little slowlier after a while because he got tired. "Why are you so irritated?", asked a voice next to him. It was Lioness. "I thought a birthday is a special day."

"Maybe for you, but for me it´s a normal day. Come on, in the last ten years I didn´t celebrate it, so why should I do it now?", he asked.

"Don´t know", replied Lioness. "Maybe because Shark wants to have a party."

"Then they should make a party on their own", said Axel. Lioness gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Nevertheless, happy birthday", she said. He smiled a little. But this smile disappeared as his shoulders began to ache again. He took a hissing breath in and closed his eyes shortly.

"What´s up?", asked Lioness.

"Nothing", he replied and took a deep breath in. The pain was gone. Lioness frowned but said nothing. Suddenly he stopped and his eyes widened. Lioness followed his look and was shocked.

In front of them was a large place full of ash. This had been the village the wolves had attacked. Now everything was burned. Sometimes a house was not much destroyed, but it was black because of the flames, the roof was gone and the walls were just half heal. The wind blew the ash away. There was nothing left, everything was completely destroyed.

"This is the village", said Axel.

"This WAS the village", corrected King as he and the others saw the burned place.

"Let´s look around if we can find any tracks or something else", suggested Hawk. They split up. Everything was full of black and grey ash, not even one house was heal. Axel knelt down and looked at the ground. There were some tracks, tracks of the wolves. It were at least three of them. Next to the tracks was blood on the ground. It was dried. Axel stood up and followed the tracks. They led him through the whole village until he stopped.

At the end of the village the tracks pointed into the direction where Rétaran was. "Guys, have a look at this!", he yelled. The others came to him. He showed them the tracks.

"They want to attack the capital of the elves!", said Lioness.

"But why didn´t we meet them on our way?", asked Shark.

"The wolves are like shadows. At days they don´t appear, they just come out at night. While we were sleeping they sneaked towards Rétaran. Axel just saw one of them on their way", explained Sebastian.

"We must get back as fast as we can!", said King.

"No way, you´ll stay here", said a voice behind them. There stood five large, black wolves. On one back of a wolf sat a man with green skin and red eyes. They all looked shocked at him.

"Tilian", whispered Axel and stared at his clone. His heart stopped beating for a moment. "But...you was dead! I saw you!"

Tilian grinned. "You know nothing. I fell into the water, yes, but I didn´t die. Unfortunately my teammates couldn´t escape from the fire...but I´m not alone here. I found a new master who healed my wounds after our fight. And now I´m back", he hissed.

"This day keeps getting better and better", mumbered Axel.

His clone hissed something to the wolves in another language. The wolves understood and attacked the group. Quickly Hawk took his bow and shot at the beasts. He hit their necks and heads, but they continued running towards them. "Don´t touch their claws or teeth! It´ll burn your skin!", shouted Axel as he ducked under a bite of a wolf. Then he kicked the mouth of the wolf and turned a backflip.

He tried to concentrate. As he saw Tilian he suddenly felt his hate growing bigger. The wolves forced him to get angry. Axel tried to stay calm and to concentrate on his movements. He avoided the attacks of the wolf, jumped if it wanted to scratch him, ducked if it wanted to bite him. He saw his friends doing the same. They avoided the claws and teeth as good as they could.

While Hawk shot at every wolf the others pulled their swords out of the scabbards and attacked the wolves. Shark jumped onto the back of a wolf and held tight onto it. "Wohoo! This is better than surfing!", he yelled as the wolf jumped wildly to get him away from its back. But Shark held on tight. With his right hand he grabbed the skin of the wolf, with his other hand he held his sword.

As the wolf did nothing for a second Shark stang the sword into the neck of the beast. It growled and screamed in pain, then it fell onto the ground and didn´t move. "Oh yeah, who rocks?", cheered Shark.

Tilian´s wolf fought with Axel. One time Axel was unconcentrated and was hit. The tail of the wolf hit him hardly and he fell onto the ground. Every part of his body ached. He didn´t know why but he was terribly weak. The wolf came over to him. Tilian ordered something and the shadow nodded. Then it opened its mouth and a small, blue cloud came out of it. Axel breathed in the cloud. He coughed. His eyes got tired and he couldn´t held them open. As he passed out he saw Tilian standing over him. He grinned.

Lioness and King wanted to help him, but couldn´t. The wolves in front of them tried to bite them all the time and they were too busy to avoid the sharp teeth. An arrow hit one wolf in the eyes. It roared in pain and fell onto the ground. It winced and tried to get the arrow away. King used this chance to cut the wolves throat. Even though he was a big animal lover this was no animal. It was an evil spirit, that was something completely different. Red blood streamed down his sword and onto the ground. The grass was red within seconds and the wolf stopped moving.

They watched that Tilian lifted Axel and laid him onto the back of his wolf. Tilian gave the wolves an order. They understood and opened their mouths. Blue clouds came out of them and everyone breathed them in. King, Hawk, Lioness, Shark and Sebastian fell passed out onto the ground.

Hours later they woke up again. Lioness opened her eyes. Her mouth felt terribly dry and she felt hot. The sun shined brightly and she had laid in the sunshine for hours. With an aching head she sat up and looked around. Her friends were about to wake up, too. The wolves, Tilian and Axel were gone. As fast as she could (and it wasn´t very fast, her legs felt weak) she stood up.

"Now I´m sure", began Hawk who stood up. "This is going to be his worst birthday ever."

**Sorry, I know, a short chapter... But I wrote this at about 1 in the morning. Nevertheless I hope you liked it, please review:P**


	61. Imprisonment

Kidnapped

Axel opened his eyes. His view was blurry, he didn´t know where he was. Around him was darkness, endless darkness. With a moan of pain he sat up. His head ached a lot. After his eyes got used to the darkness he could see that he was in a small room. Through the door came just a little light. Axel tried to stand up. He closed his eyes in pain, his headache grew bigger.

He reeled one or two steps, then he fell onto his knees. Sweat was on his forehead. He took his last energy and stood up again. This time he could reach the door. On this side was no door handle, just a heavy lock. It was a wooden door. No problem for his Jo-Lan. If he could concentrate. For some moments he stood there, based his body on the door and breathed heavily.

"Jo-Lan chohumatsu", he cried. Just a very small energy wave appeared and caused only a scratch to the door. He was too weak. Slowly he sank on his knees, his whole body shook. He was trapped. "Oh great", he mumbered. "I was right, this was going to be the worst day of my life." Carefully he crept to the wall and leaned his back against it. His legs felt weak and his breath was fast. Axel closed his eyes to rest a little.

Some moments later someone opened the door. Tilian came in. He looked grinning at Axel who sat weakly on the ground. Tired he looked at his clone. "I´ve never thought something could be uglier than you...well, your pets are really cute", said Axel ironic. Tilian stayed calm.

"Thanks. But they´re not my pets. They belong to my new master", replied the clone. "Do you feel a little weak? Well, the breath of the wolves make you pass out for at least three hours. Then you´re too weak to do anything. But this will last only one more hour."

"Don´t worry, your breath is even more terrible", replied Axel. Tilian growled a little.

"Unfortunately I was not allowed to cut your tounge out of your mouth", he hissed.

"What do you want?", asked Axel.

"I just do what my master wants."

"And what does your master want? If he wants the dragon I´ll protect it with my life!"

Tilian laughed. "No, she doesn´t want the dragon. She wants vengeance on the elves", he replied and laughed. "That´s everything. If the elves are out of the way she can take care of the dragon, if she wants."

"She? Your master is a woman?"

"Surprised? She´s a powerful magician", said Tilian.

"Why do you work for her? I guess not only because she helped you to stay alive. What was, in my eyes, a big mistake..."

The clone didn´t reply at once. He stared absent-minded at Axel. "But she promised me to give me a real life, so that I can live even when you´re dead. That´s the only reason why I do this. Then I can finally kill you", he replied.

"And then? When I´m dead? What are you going to do then? Do you think people won´t try to kill you because of your strange appearance?", guessed Axel. Somehow he felt sorry for his clone. Now that Lee was gone and his old mission was done he had no real reason to live. He seemed to think about Axel´s words. "Well, if you want I could give you the adress of a great dermatologist..."

"Shut up!", hissed Tilian. "I can think about this later, when my task is done", he said.

"Wow, you can think? I´m impressed..."

Tilian growled. He came closer to Axel and showed him his sharp teeth. "Your mouth is a little too big, if you ask me", he said. Axel ignored that. "Unfortunately I´m not afraid of you, so your cute pets can´t intensify my fear. Because there is none. You can´t threaten me", replied Axel.

"You don´t need to be afraid of me. You should be afraid of my master. She wants to see you this evening. If I were you-"

"You _are_ me. We´re nearly the same person", interrupted Axel.

Tilian said nothing. Axel tried to stand up. He failed. "No, we´re not the same. You have a history, memories. I have nothing like that." Tilian looked angry at Axel.

"You´re getting wise", said Axel. "But you´re right. We´re not the same. I´m unique and you are it, too. Maybe we share the same skills, but we don´t share the same life. Think about it. Do you really want to kill me? This can´t be the thing you really want. Let me go and I could-"

"Friendly meaning, but we´re enemies. And I´ll never let you escape", interrupted the clone.

"I´ll remember you of this when I broke out", smirked Axel.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that my master wants to see you this evening. I don´t know what she´s going to do with you, but something tells me it won´t be pretty", said Tilian shortly.

"Why didn´t you kidnap my friends, too?" Axel was curious now.

"Because my master just wants you. The others are not important in this fight. Maybe you´re just unlucky that you ran into my way. Not any elf in this silly village told me what I wanted to know. And as you appeared I saw a great chance: Getting the information I needed and causing you pain at the same time. So, be prepared for endless pain this evening!" Tilian hissed grinning and walked out of the room.He locked the door and walked away.

Axel sank back onto the ground. Tilian became weak. His weakness was that he wanted to live without being afraid he could die when Axel died. He just wanted to have a normal life. _He´s getting wise with the time. And had he been friendly for a moment? Yes, I could talk to him like a normal human being. I guess he isn´t that evil like I thought first. Maybe he could turn into a good one? _

He threw this thought quickly away. Tilian won´t turn into a good guy. He´ll always stay evil. Or not? Axel was confused. Since the last time he had seen Tilian he had gotten weak because of his sadness. He just wanted to live... and was ready to follow the orders of his master.

The time seemed to pass very slowly. Axel lost every sense of time in the dark room. He tried to sleep a little because he still felt weak. But he couldn´t. He just laid there on the ground and had no idea what to do next. At least he felt his energy coming back so that he grew a little stronger. But there was still his headache. He didn´t know if it was afternoon or night when Tilian came back.

"Nice to see you again", said Axel with sarcasm. Meanwhile he felt better than before. Tilian tied up Axel´s hands on his back. Then he took Axel out of the small room. Without saying a word the clone took him through a long corridor which seemed to be under the ground. There were just some torches who spent light. They went up a thin spiral staircase. Tilian took him through another long corridor. In this one were high columns and a lot of torches, it looked much friendlier than in Axel´s prison. Nevertheless it was creepy and dangerous there.

"I guess I can´t change your mind, but please let me go", said Axel after a while. He nearly fell over his own feet. He thought for a moment. "I know a powerful magician who could help you." He thought of Garrett. But Tilian´s face stayed emotionless and ignored Axel. "Then on the hard way."

Quickly Axel rammed his elbow into Tilian´s stomach. Surprised he let Axel go and held his stomach in pain. Meanwhile Axel ran into the direction where he had come from. He went with his legs through his tied up arms so that his hands were not on his back. Behind him he noticed Tilian who tried to catch him again. "You can´t escape, in this direction is a dead end!", he hissed.

Axel could tear the ropes around his hands. Now he was free. He ran as fast as he could. But not downstairs, this time he ran upstairs. Now he heard Tilian following him. He tried to run faster. As he reached the end of the stairs he suddenly stopped. Axel was on top of a high tower, beneath him were at least fifty metres to the ground. He could have a look at a small castle in the middle of the mountains. The hard wind blew into his face and his heart raced. There was no way out. Tilian would reach the top of the tower in less than some seconds.

"I told you, here is a dead end", said a voice behind Axel. Tilian grinned.

Axel was too shocked as he heard Tilian suddenly. For a second he lost his balance and slipped over the edge. Before he fell someone grabbed his hand. "Why don´t you let me fall?", asked Axel challenging. The clone pulled him up again. "Because I don´t want to die", he replied. "Manning, you´re just a lucky fool that I _must_ save you to stay alive."

As they went down the stairs again Axel growled something, he was angry. Everywhere was a dead end, he didn´t know where to run. Upstairs was the tower, downstairs the prison. In the other direction waited Tilian´s master. And fighting with the clone? Impossible, Axel would lose anyway. He wasn´t strong enough to fight. His legs were still that weak that he nearly fell over his own feet.

They were in the long corridor again where Axel tried to escape. His hands weren´t tied, he was totally free. _Going to his master and nearly die or fighting Tilian...choose something, quickly!_ Axel chose the last thing. Shortly in front of a big door he turned a backflip and landed behind Tilian. He went into fighting position. Tilian just grinned. "You don´t really want to fight, do you?"

Axel´s face was serious. "Note, serious face!", he said. Tilian went into fighting position, too. Axel attacked him quickly with a kick. He ignored his aching muscles and just concentrated on the fight. Tilian blocked easily and punched him. The punch hit Axel´s stomach. He reeled some steps backwards before he started another attack. He whirled around, ducked as the clone kicked him, blocked when he tried to punch.

The longer they fought the faster moved Axel. He sweated and breathed hardly, but ignored that. He blocked a punch of Tilian, grabbed his arm and kicked his legs away. He had learned this move from his father. Tilian fell, but rolled into fighting position again. He didn´t seem to get tired, in contrast to Axel. Axel´s arms felt weak and heavy, just like his legs.

As he started another attack and tried to kick his clone Tilian grabbed his legs and threw him against the wall. With a moan of pain he fell onto his knees. "Give up, you don´t have your full powers", said Tilian and grinned at Axel. "Well, the hope dies at last", replied Axel shortly and stood up again. He ran towards his clone. He used a Jo-Lan energy wave to blast Tilian away. But Tilian just slided some metres backwards and was still on his feet.

"Bad idea", mumbered Axel. Somehow his Jo-Lan cost him a lot of energy. His view became a little blurry and he saw Tilian coming towards him. Axel tried a last punch, but this was blocked.

"You should have kept your energy for my master. I guess you´ll nearly die if she tortures you", said Tilian and pulled Axel up.

"Sounds great", said Axel sarcastic. Then he let Tilian take him through the large door. Now they were in a hall. There were big windows, but outside were thick clouds and it rained. So a fireplace was lit and some torches burned at the wall. In the hall stood a desk next to the fireplace, cupboards with books stood at the walls. Someone sat at the desk and wrote something on pieces of paper. There was a thick smell of herbs in the air.

Tilian took Axel over to the desk and pushed him hardly onto the ground so that he fell on his knees. He looked up at the person who sat at the desk. She wore a long cape and he couldn´t see her face.

"Master, I brought you Axel Manning. He can tell you where the elves are hiding", said Tilian after a moment of silence.

"Ah, thanks, Tilian. You´ve done well. So, Mr Manning-"

"Mr Manning is my father", interrupted Axel. Tilian hissed that he should be quietly.

"Then, Axel-"

"Just my friends are allowed to call me Axel. If-" Tilian grabbed Axel´s shoulder and his fingers bored into his shoulder. His face cramped in pain. The woman waved her hand and Tilian let Axel go.

"Okay. I´m sure you know where the elves are hiding", said the voice.

"No, I don´t know anything", replied Axel. "Why don´t you know it on your own?"

"Where the city Rétaran is is a well guarded secret. If you don´t want to tell me I have to cause you pain until you tell me", said the woman.

"I won´t talk to a shadow", said Axel growling.

The woman sighed quietly and let her cape fall down. Axel stared shocked into the face of the woman who just smiled at him.

**Review, dudes! ) And thanks to CK65 for her great help! **


	62. The Evils rise

The Evil´s rise

Hawk, King, Lioness, Shark and Sebastian sat in the grass and didn´t know what to do. It was late afternoon, the sun would set in three hours. But now it was really hot and they sweated. There was no shelter, not even a tree, so they were in the terrible sunshine. Their mouths were dry and they were all tired.

"We should go back", suggested Hawk.

"I think we should follow them, who knows what they´re going to do with him", said Lioness.

"But we don´t even have tracks! They disappeared without any trace", said King.

"I agree with Hawk. We have no tracks to follow, so we can´t help him. Dude, they didn´t want to attack Rétaran, they wanted Axel!", mentioned Shark and stood up.

"As much as I hate to say it, we can´t follow him. Shark and King are right, without tracks we don´t know where they are", said Sebastian. Lioness sighed. "Then let´s go home and hope we´ll get any idea to help him."

They walked as fast as they could. Their water was empty, they had nothing to drink. As the sun was about to set they saw the tunnels. Even as it was dark they continued walking. They reached the tunnels, lit a torch and went through the long tunnel system. Sebastian led the group and held the torch to see something. After midnight the group was in Rétaran again.

Tired and with a big thurst they went to the lift and were in the Hall of the Eldests again. In the corridor they talked about what to do next. Meanwhile King went away to get some water for them.

"I guess the eldests are asleep. We must tell them tomorrow", guessed Shark.

"Asleep? Axel is in danger, who knows what happens to him at this moment!", replied Lioness. "We should wake them."

"And then? Do you think they´ll send an army to nowhere?"

Lioness said nothing. She hated it that they couldn´t do anything. Hawk yawned loudly. "But we could tell them..."

"I´ll go and tell Aryane about it. To wake up the eldests would be unfriendly. Maybe she can-"

"I guess she wants to do nothing. Axel is out of the way and I can finally marry Jing. That´s what she wants! So we shouldn´t tell her", said Lioness angry.

"But she´s one of the most important elves here. And the only one we can talk to at the moment", replied Sebastian. "Listen, of course we all want him back. You lost the man you love, I lost my son and the others lost their best friend. So we must do something, but I don´t know what exactly."

King came back and gave everyone something to drink. "Any ideas yet?", he asked. They shook their heads. "Nothing."

"Well, we should sleep now and tell the eldests tomorrow as early as we can", suggested King. "We´re tired and powerless."

Everyone agreed. "I´ll tell Aryane tomorrow. Then I´ll go to the eldests when the sun is rising. Who wants can come with me", said Sebastian. Then he headed for his room. The others followed after some minutes. Lioness fell tired into her bed. She didn´t put off her dusty and a little haggled clothes. She just laid there, felt the pain in her muscles and in her stomach.

It was a strange feeling. She was afraid something could happen to Axel. She wanted to help him, she wanted to do something. But she didn´t know what. Lioness sighed and stared at the ceiling. And she wished he would be there, next to her...Suddenly someone knocked at her door. With an annoyed moan she stood up and opened it. As if her mood couldn´t get worse she saw the only face she never wanted to see again for the rest of her life. Jing smiled at her. "What do you want?", asked Lioness annoyed.

"I thought you could need someone who protects you. After I heard what had happened to the poor dragon warrior..." He sounded not even a little sad but just used her situation as his advantage.

"I´m tired and want to sleep. You can come back tomorrow..." She stopped as he took her hands and went closer to her. The look he gave her frightened her a little. She stared into his eyes. "You´re eyes are the most beautiful ones in the world", he said and smiled at her as his face came closer to hers. Lioness swallowed dryly. Her heart beat faster because she was afraid someone could see her together with that guy.

Somehow this elf looked beautiful. Lioness had to stare into his eyes. With fear she saw his face coming closer to hers, nearly kissing her. She couldn´t move, the fear was too big and glued her to the ground. Her heart beat much faster and her eyes watched afraid Jing´s face coming closer. Then he kissed her. His tongue entered her mouth and he wrapped his arms tightly around her so that she couldn´t get free.

He kissed her passionately. Lioness tried to push him away, but he was too strong at the moment. She was tired, restless and just wanted to sleep. And then he came and used her helpless moment as his advantage. She couldn´t scream. With widened eyes she watched, felt everything. There was a strange feeling in her belly, a feeling that told her something was wrong. Tears came into her face, slowly, but surely. Her view became blurry.

Lioness tried to scream. He still kissed her, he didn´t let her go. As his hands were about to went under her shirt she finally pushed him away, she had enough. "You´re disgusting!", she snapped furiuos at him. He just smiled a little evilly. "You´re lucky that Axel is not here, he would-"

"...just try to argue with me, again", finished Jing her sentence. "This guy doesn´t have any chance against me."

"At least he´s a much better guy than you...if I can call something like you a _guy_", she replied hissing. Her face was red because of anger and some tears ran down her cheeks. Then she slammed the door in his face and locked it. Lioness sighed slowly. Weakly she went over to her bed. Her legs felt even weaker than before, her whole body was shaking. How could she let him do this? Why had she let him go that far?

Crying she closed her eyes. She so wished Axel would be here now. But she didn´t know where he was. And now she was really sure, she didn´t want to marry Jing. Never, not even if the two were the last ones on the world. She tried just to thought of Axel and herself being together, having a life they have wanted.

With this thought she fell asleep. It was a dreamless and uncalm sleep, she woke up very often. The last time she woke up was half an hour before the sun rose. With a loud sigh she stood up. It had no sense to try to sleep, she couldn´t. Slowly she got out of her bed and went over to the mirror. She combed the dust out of her hair and changed her clothes. Now she wore the darkred dress again.

She tied her hair up in a ponytail and yawned. Her eyes looked tired and her whole body felt weak. _Okay, I´m awake now. I have no time to be tired_, she told herself. Lioness wanted to be awake now and told herself that she could sleep later, when Axel was in safe. As she went out of her room she nearly crashed into Sebastian. He frowned as he saw her.

"That early awake? You seem to be very tired", he noticed.

"Couldn´t sleep very well", she replied.

"The others, too. They´re waiting in front of the hall. I´ve just talked to your mother, she´ll come some minutes later. Let´s go."

They went to the hall. In front of the large door waited King, Hawk and Shark. They stood there with tired faces and waited for Sebastian. As he and Lioness came they looked up. "Let´s go in."

Together they opened the gate and stepped in. The sunlight of the early morning sun came through the large windows and filled the room with a bright light. Outside the sky turned yellow. It was very cold in the hall, Lioness froze a little. The eldests sat at the table and were talking. As they noticed their five guests they stopped suddenly and looked at them.

"We know everything, you don´t need to tell us your story. It´s terrible that the dragon warrior was caught", said Grim.

"Do you have any ideas for what to do?", asked Sebastian hopefully.

"Well, we can´t do anything because we don´t know where he is...We must wait", replied one of the eldests. His name was Laskian. He seemed to be as old as Elian. Lioness lost her temper a little. She couldn´t believe that everyone wanted to do nothing. Before she could say something Sebastian spoke up,

"Of course. Thank you that you listened to our problem", he said. But the others noticed the disappointment in his voice.

"This is not only your problem. This is our problem, too. Who is going to help us when not the dragon warrior? Who will be strong enough to defeat the evil forces? We don´t know. But we still hope that he might come back. The hope dies at last." Elian spoke very slowly and with some long pauses. He was very old.

The five bowed to the eldests and went out of the hall. "We have to wait. Wait for a sign of the wolves", said Sebastian as they walked back to their rooms. "Don´t worry, I think he´ll make this. Tilian won´t kill him, it will kill him, too. So he will stay alive."

"Yeah, but they can cause him pain", said King.

"And too many pain kills the mind of someone", added Lioness.

"Guys, it´s getting serious. The evil is rising and I guess there will happen many more things in the near future", said Hawk. They all nodded and hoped Axel would come back, or at least they would find tracks of the wolves. But the most terrible thing was that they had to wait and didn´t know what happened at this moment with Axel...

**Man, a short chapter again! Sorry, but I can´t make it longer...the others will be longer, I try to make this! Please review!**


	63. Pain, Blood and Tears

Pain, Blood and Tears

Axel stared at the face of the old woman. She had long, white hair and a very pale skin. Axel´s heart stopped beating for a moment as he remembered who sat in front of him. It was Theresia, the old woman who had told them about the clones when they were in town. She had a creepy and evil smile on her face and folded her hands on the desk after she put the writing feather away.

"Why are you doing this? I thought you were good!", said Axel angry. Then he suddenly remembered the wolves and tried to calm down. He didn´t want his anger to be intensified.

"That´s a good question. Grim, one of the eldests, is my brother. He got one of the eldests and what happened to me? He had hated me all the time, he sent me away and told me to come never back. Since then I planned this. And you are just unlucky that you ran into my plan. But I have some great ideas what I can do with you." She smiled.

"And what?", asked Axel.

"Oh, you´ve been in the capital of the elves, Rétaran. I don´t know where it is, they´re hiding like insects. But I´m sure you will tell me. Then I can finally attack them and kill them for the pain they caused me."

"I won´t tell you anything", said Axel calmly.

"Sure? Otherwise we have to do this on the hard and even more painful way", she said. And smirked.

"I won´t tell you anything", said Axel again. His muscles strained because of the anger. She could do with him what she wanted, he was sure he wouldn´t say even one word. Theresia´s smile made him angry, it confused him, too. She stayed totally calm because she was sure he would tell her.

She waved her hand just a little. Suddenly Axel felt a sharp pain running through his whole body. As if someone would press him together. He growled in pain, his face cramped. Like sharp skeans the pain went through his body. He fell on the ground and wrapped his arms around his chest. He shook hardly and sweated. _Stay calm...why can´t this pain disappear? Please stop this..._, he thought.

The pain grew bigger. Now he screamed and couldn´t see anything. His view was blurry and every part of his body ached. As if someone would sting a thousand of skeans into him and now he would pull them out again, very slowly. "I...won´t tell you...", he said through his teeth and closed his eyes. He got a sick feeling because of the pain. It grew stronger again. He nearly passed out because of it.

The pain stopped suddenly. Heavily breathing, with sweat on his forehead and with a shaking body Axel laid on the ground. His heart hammered against his chest and he didn´t open his eyes.

"Are you sure you don´t want to tell me?", asked Theresia again. Axel shook weakly his head. "Never", he whispered powerless. He felt as if he had no power, he was too weak to do anything. He didn´t try to move because he expected a lot of pain.

"This was just the beginning of your torture. Your mind is strong, but I´ll cause you so many pain that you won´t be able to defend it. And then I can read your thoughts, then I know where the city is. Tilian, bring him away!", she ordered.

Tilian nodded and grabbed Axel´s shoulders to lift him. Ungently he carried the weak Axel back to his prison. "If I were you I would tell her where it is", said Tilian as he threw Axel hardly into his cell. "I will never...betray my friends", whispered Axel and tried to stand up. He fell onto his knees.

"Your decision", said Tilian and locked the door. Axel heard the sound of his steps getting more quietly until they disappeared. He fell onto the ground and just laid there. Every part of his body ached, every muscle protested as he tried to move. His breath was uncalm and fast, he tried to sleep, but couldn´t. The pain was still too strong so he stayed awake the whole night.

"Ryoko Jo-Lan...ryoko Jo-Lan...", he whispered and closed his eyes to fell into a Jo-Lan trance. This was his only chance to get some rest, to forget the pain and let his body recover. His breath calmed down and he fell into trance.

Three days passed. At least Axel thought that it were three days. Early at the morning a man brought him some water to drink and something to eat. At about midday he was taken to Theresia by Tilian again. Tilian pushed him hardly onto the ground. Axel´s legs felt strangely weak, he couldn´t think clear. As if he would look through a thin curtain his view was blurry.

Nevertheless he didn´t tell Theresia where the city was. Even though she let him feel an even sharper pain than the day before. On the evening he was taken to his cell again. There he fell into Jo-Lan trance to avoid the pain and to get some rest. It was every day the same. One time he dreamed in his Jo-Lan trance, which was very unusual.

_Theresia let a girl coming in. It was Lioness. Her face was full of tears and she looked sadly at Axel. As fast as he could he got out of Tilian´s grip around his hands and ran towards her. He wanted to tear the ropes around her wrists, but as he touched her skin she suddenly turned into thin smoke and disappeared. _

_"What have you done to her?", asked Axel angry and turned to the old woman. She smirked. _

_"You fool. This was just a ghost, something like a mirror image. Not a clone, such a ghost cannot speak or think, it´s just the copy of the outter appearance of someone. It disappears after half an hour again." Tilian grinned. _

Axel woke up and was confused about this. Why did he dream this?

One day Axel stood in front of her and expected everything. He forced his body to hold through this. She smirked and waved her hand. The door opened and a man came in. A woman followed him with lowed head and closed eyes. Axel looked shocked at the girl. "Lioness", he whispered. The girl looked up. He saw tears in her eyes and she looked sadly at him.

Suddenly Axel remembered his dream and grinned at Theresia. "This isn´t Lioness. She´s just a ghost." Theresia looked surprised.

"How did you notice that?", she asked impressed.

"Tilian told me you´d plan this", replied Axel and grinned as he looked at his shocked clone. Theresia turned her head to Tilian and looked angry.

"I didn´t tell him anything", hissed the clone and looked hateful at Axel.

"But somehow he got to know it. And you´re the only one who talks to him", growled Theresia. "We´ll deal later. Bring him away now, I have to talk to you, Tilian." Tilian bowed to her and brought Axel away. He was obviously angry.

"This wasn´t necessary", said the clone and pushed Axel hardly into the cell. "But I´m impressed. How did you find out?"

"Jo-Lan trance."

"Hm." Tilian went out quickly and locked the door.

The fourth day came. Axel felt weaker with every day, but didn´t tell the old woman anything. Never. Not as long as he had an own will.

On the fourth day Axel felt as weak as never before. The wounds Theresia had caused him burned terrible. Nearly everywhere he had cuts, bruises and grazes which burned like fire into his skin. It was terrible, everytime he moved it ached even more. The fourth day seemed to be the worst one. Axel didn´t know what the magician did to him, he just felt the pain and his face cramped. It stang into his body like a thousand of knives, ready to kill him. Tilian stood next to them and watched the scene. He seemed to be afraid the men would kill Axel. But he seemed to be gloatingly, too.

At the late eveningAxel was carried back into his cell. "You could let me free, then you needn´t be afraid I could die", coughed Axel on their way. "Don´t you see she just uses you? You´re like...a slave for her, when she knows where Rétaran is she will kill us both. Remember, Lee... wanted to kill you, too, after your task was done..."

"So, you´re telling me this? You can´t think clear because of the pain. You´re crazy, Manning", hissed Tilian.

"You should ask you who of us is really crazy. I, because I don´t want to betray my friends, or you, because you believe in the word of an old snake", replied Axel quietly.

"Even if you could escape you won´t find the way out of the mountains. And you would die because you have nothing for a journey of two days. The sun is very hot at days", explained Tilian and threw Axel hardly into his cell. With a moan of pain he fell onto the ground.

"I could travel at night. Then it´s cold enough", said Axel.

"In your situation? Forget this, Manning. You will just die." Tilian left.

_He´s growing weaker. Not in his power but in his mind. He´s more thoughtful and a little friendlier to me. He learned to control his temper..._ Axel wanted to move but his back ached. Blood ran down his back and the wounds burned terribly. So he laid not on his back to avoid the pain. It was as cold as ice in the cell, but he felt hot. He wished to be back in Rétaran, where his friends, Lioness and his father were. But he couldn´t. He had to stay strong not to tell Theresia where they were.

Axel closed his eyes. He didn´t notice that a cold tear ran down his face. He forced himself to stay through this, to stay strong. Weakly he fell into Jo-Lan trance. Never in his life before he had felt such a big pain in his body. In his mind, yes, but not in his body. At least he could not feel the pain while he was in trance.

At the morning of the fifth day Tilian came into Axel´s cell. He found Axel lying on the ground, he didn´t move. Dried blood came out of his wounds and had went through his shirt. First Tilian was afraid he could be dead, but then he threw this thought away. He would be dead then, too. He walked over to Axel and grabbed his shoulder. Alarmed Axel opened his eyes and sat up.

As he felt the pain in his back he winced a little. Tilian noticed that he hadn´t drunk his water. "Why didn´t you drink it?", he asked surprised. For a moment a weak smile appeared on Axel´s face.

"Did you really think I wouldn´t have noticed you drugged me the last days? I noticed it yesterday evening because the water smelled different. At least I can think clear again now."

Silence. Tilian seemed to be absent-minded. He stared at the bottle of water and growled angry. "How powerful is he, the magician you know?", he asked, with a hissing tone and looked at Axel, his face was emotionless.

Axel was surprised. "You thought about it? You´ll let me escape?", he asked hopefully.

"You didn´t answer my question."

"He´s able to make a clone...so I guess he´s powerful...enough to give you a life", replied Axel quietly. If Garrett couldn´t the magic of the elves will be strong enough. So he hoped Tilian would let him free. But Tilian shook his head and seemed to remember what his task was.

"Come on, Theresia is waiting." Tilian growled evilly and took Axel again into the hall where Theresia sat at the fireplace.

"Today, Tilian, I have a special task for you", began the old woman. "I thought you wanted to have a little fun. Fight with this weak worm and hurt him as much as you want. But don´t kill him, I know you won´t. You can´t. So hurt him until you think he will nearly die", she ordered.

"Fighting with him? But he can´t even stand on his legs so this-"

"Shut up! You have to do what I want! Or do you want to avoid my orders again?", interrupted Theresia.

Tilian bowed to her. "Of course not", he said quietly, but Axel could see the hate in his eyes. And the anger. He growled, then he turned to Axel. "Stand up", he hissed. Axel didn´t move. His whole body ached, he felt as weak as never before, he couldn´t think clear because he was still a little drugged and now this woman wanted him and Tilian to fight?

Tilian just stared at Axel now. Theresia got angry. "Why don´t you attack him?!", she nearly shouted. "You can have the vengeance you wanted all the time!" The clone didn´t move. He closed his eyes and his hands formed fists, his muscles strained. He seemed to fight with the order. He was afraid to kill Axel.

Axel stood slowly up and could stand hardly on his legs. "Do what she wants", he said to Tilian. "Fight with me." Tilian looked confused. Axel was badly hurt and wanted to fight? "Or are you too weak to fight?", asked Axel challenging and tried not to fall again. "I knew it, you´re just a fake with bad teeth. Fight with me, prove that you´re better than me!"

Axel attacked his clone first. He started with a kick, Tilian blocked it easily. But Axel continued. He jumped into the air and kicked him two times. He ignored the pain in his body. Again the clone blocked the attacks and ducked quickly. Axel was much slowlier than normally. Nevertheless Tilian didn´t attack him back. He just blocked and ducked. Axel punched, kicked and turned a backflip to land a little farther away from his clone.

_Bad idea..._, the thought as his back began to ache. Theresia got angry because Tilian didn´t attack Axel. "Attack him finally!", she ordered nearly shouting.

"He´s too weak!", replied Tilian aggressive and blocked Axel´s kick easily.

"Too weak? He attacks you all the time and you tell me he´s too weak?!"

Axel stood there confused. Tilian helped him? That was very new to him. "I´m much stronger than him, one attack could kill him!", said the clone hissing.

"You´re not stronger than him. Your mind is weakened, you defend such a weak creature!"

Tilian hissed loudly and attacked Axel finally. Axel could block the first kick, but the punch hit his stomach. He winced in pain and his face cramped in pain. The next kick hit him hardly on his chest so that he was sent against the wall. He fell on his knees. His whole body shook hardly. Weakly he stood up again to block Tilian´s punch.

One more kick hit him again and he fell onto the ground. He couldn´t stand up, the pain was too big. He growled in pain and his face cramped as he tried to move. Nevertheless he stood up. With his last energy he stood on his feet. Tilian spat his venom at Axel and hit his legs and arms. Axel fell again, into a puddle of green paralyzing venom.

"A weak way to defeat the enemy, but it´s a painful one, too. You´ve done well", said Theresia.

"Weak way?! I jussst didn´t want to kill him!", hissed Tilian furious and growled at the old woman who ignored him completely.

She walked over to Axel and knelt down next to him. She laid her hand on his head. Suddenly he felt a hard pain in his head as if someone would ram a skean into it. He screamed as the pain grew bigger. In front of his eyes he saw the pictures of their way to Rétaran, the pictures of the journey to the burned village. The whole way.

"Thanks that you helped me. Now I know where they are hiding. Your mind is too weak now to defend the information about the hiding place of the elves." She grinned. "Allen, tell the soldiers we´re attacking the elves in two days", said Theresia to a guard next to the door. He nodded and disappeared. "You can bring him away now", she ordered Tilian.

Tilian nodded, still growling angry, and grabbed Axel´s shoulders to pull him up ungently. "And", she added as Tilian wanted to leave the room. "Don´t defend him again. Don´t become his friend, you´re his enemy. I´ll deal with you later." He nodded again and hissed something, then he walked out of the room. He pulled Axel with him, he tried not to fall, that fast walked Tilian through the corridor. Axel could hardly follow.

"Not fed up yet?", asked Axel weakly and walked a little faster to look into his clone´s face. Tilian didn´t reply. Suddenly Axel fell over his feet and landed on the ground. With shaking legs he tried to stand up but failed.

"Fool", hissed Tilian quietly. He pulled Axel up and this time he helped him. The reptilian clone laid Axel´s arm around his shoulder and tried to hold him on his feet this way. A little slowlier he continued walking. Weakly Axel based on his clone and said nothing. His headache grew bigger with each second and he felt every part of his body was aching. He groaned in pain as Tilian touched a wound.

"You can be lucky that I didn´t injure you more. And _I _can be lucky if she doesn´t cause me pain because I didn´t listen to her orders", hissed Tilian angry, but he tried to calm down. "Can...you walk?", he asked Axel after a while. Meanwhile he sounded friendly. Maybe because he was fed up with the life here. Maybe he saw help in Axel.

Tilian let Axel go so that he could try to walk some steps. "It must go", he replied quietly as he reeled some metres. Tilian helped him to his cell. "Hey, you can be really nice if you´re not that aggressive", said Axel and smiled a little.

"Tonight", said Tilian seriously as Axel was in his cell again. "We´re escaping."

"You mean you changed your mind?"

"Yes, you´re right. I know now that she wants to kill us both in less than two days. Maybe after the fight."

"So we´re friends?"

"This has nothing to do with friendship. I´m just doing this to get out of here", said Tilian emotionless and locked the door as he left.

**Review, please! I hope it really doesn´t matter Tilian is a little friendly to Axel...well, sometimes it´s just the surface you see...hm, people can change, but can they change forever?? Review! Anonymous reviews are able, too! )**


	64. The Escape

The Escape

Late at night Axel woke up. This time he hadn´t been in trance. He just waited for Tilian. He had never thought his clone would help him, never. But now it was different. Nevertheless Axel was careful. Maybe Tilian just wanted to use him to escape, then to get a life. And after this he would kill Axel. Maybe. At the moment Axel had to trust him, otherwise he wouldn´t be able to escape.

Quietly footsteps were in the corridor and Axel stood up. Meanwhile he felt better because the effect of the drugs had disappeared. He could think clear again and was happy about this. Someone opened the lock and the door.

"We have not much time. I prepared horses so we´re faster if they see us", said Tilian whispering. He seemed to be nervous. "Come on, follow me!" Quickly they sneaked out of the prison. Axel followed Tilian through some large corridors and some doors. "Are here no guards?", asked Axel.

Tilian laughed shortly. "Why that? No one knows this place and everyone thinks there is a curse on these buildings. So Theresia thinks she´s in safe", replied the clone. Axel noticed that Tilian´s clothes were torn up a little and that he had some bloody scratches there.

"What had happened?", he asked.

First he said nothing. After a while he spoke up. "You´ll pay for the pain she caused to me...just because I wanted to save your silly life. Trust me, you don´t want to know what she did to me. But it´s aching and eats my power like a hungry wolf. I feel weaker with every second", gave Tilian back. He growled something, looked around a corner and led Axel to a small building in the dark inner ward of the castle. There were a lot of clouds at the sky and it was very dark dark.

They sat on the horses who stood in the stablings and rode towards the gate. They were shortly in front of it as suddenly someone yelled an order. "They saw us", hissed Tilian and looked back. "Faster!" Quickly they rode through the open gate. As they were just twenty metres away from the castle and followed a straight path through the rocks some arrows flew towards the two.

They bored into the ground, but one of them hit Tilian´s shoulder as he turned around to see if someone followed them. With a surprised, short scream he fell off his horse and landed on the ground. Axel stopped. Should he let the clone die here? Or should he help him...Tilian had helped him, too. As fast as he could he rode back. "Are you okay?", he asked while seeing Tilian´s horse ran scared away.

"If you call an arrow in your shoulder okay, then I´m fine", he replied angry.

"Come on!" The clone took Axel´s hand and was pulled up onto Axel´s horse. Tilian sat behind Axel in the saddle. Then they continued their way. The signal horns of the castle turned more quietly the farther they rode away. Tilian told Axel the way and some time later they reached the large valley where the burned village was.

"We´re lucky that they don´t send the wolves after us", said the clone quietly. He pulled the arrow out of his shoulder, it was very close to his chest. Blood streamed out of the wound and colored his green jumpsuit red.

But Axel felt weak, too. It was a wonder that he could go straight on. Now he sat in the saddle and told himself to stay awake. "Okay, we have nothing to drink and we must ride the whole day, otherwise we won´t get to Rétaran early enough. If we´re still alive then we´re lucky."

"I´m just glad if you stay alive", came the weak answer from behind Axel. "But you should be glad if you stayed alive, too". Axel turned around and looked at Tilian over his shoulder. He was shocked when he saw the wound. It was much bigger than he had thought. He lost too much blood. Axel tore a piece of his uniform and gave it to the clone. He took it confused. "Press this on your wound, it will stop the bleeding", said Axel.

"This scratch? I don´t need your help for this", he replied.

"Really? Well, if not it was a really big wonder if you survived until we´re in Rétaran. But do what you want, accept my help and stay alive or don´t accept it and die."

Tilian growled something, but did what Axel wanted. Axel thought to hear the word _bullheaded_. He just grinned a little. "Do you know what your problem is, Manning? You´re taking too much care of other people."

"Maybe, but you can win a lot of friends with this", replied Axel. "And every life is worth something." _Even yours_, he added in thoughts.

As the sun rose it became fast very hot. This was too much for Tilian. He was strong, but somehow the wound and the many blood he had lost weakened him. Moreover Axel didn´t know what Theresia had caused to him. So he was much weaker than he had thought at the beginning. Before midday Tilian passed out and nearly fell off the horse.

Axel sat on the saddle behind him, so he could hold him in the saddle.The horse got tired in the afternoon, but Axel continued riding without making a break. They had no time. He hoped he wouldn´t pass out before they arrived at Rétaran.

His breath was uncalm and his mouth dry. Without water everything was much more difficult. The sun burned like fire and just with a lot of concentration Axel forced himself to stay awake. The tiredness was very big. His whole body felt weak and the wounds ached. The warm and thick wind blew some sand into his eyes and he closed them for a moment to relax.

The whole night and the next day they continued riding. Tilian was still asleep and Axel hoped he could survive. But why? Why did he hope this? If Tilian was dead he had one more problem out of the way. _No, I can´t do this. He´s right, it´s my problem that I´m taking too much care of other people. He helped me, and now I´m helping him. It would be wrong to let him die._

Finally they reached the tunnels at the evening of the second day. He had to let his horse go, it was too big for the tunnels. From now on he had to carry Tilian through the tunnels. _This is going to be funny_, thought Axel as he lifted Tilian out of the saddle. "Ever thought of a diet?", asked Axel heavily breathing, knowing his clone woulndn´t answer. He wrapped the clone´s arm around his shoulders and carried him this way. In some hours they would arrive at Rétaran.

Lioness stood in front of the hall. She wanted to talk to the eldests. It was one or two hours before midnight. She took a deep breath in and wanted to knock as she heard sounds behind her. She whirled around to see the guys standing there. Shark, King and Hawk went over to her. "What are you going to do?", they asked. "Sebastian is in there and talks to the eldests since afternoon."

"I know... but I want to know what they´re going to do because of Axel..."

"You still have hopes he could be alive?", asked Hawk.

"Of course, Tilian wouldn´t kill him. They MUST do something!", she replied.

"Then...let´s go and ask them", suggested King.

They knocked and stepped in. In front of the table where the eldests sat stood Sebastian. His face was a little red, he seemed to be angry and nervous. He looked very tired, but didn´t show it. He smiled as he saw the teens coming in. The four bowed to the eldests as they stood next to Sebastian.

"So, what´s the reason of your visit?", asked Grim friendly.

"We wanted to know if you had an idea because of Axel, the dragon warrior", asked Lioness.

Grim´s face turned serious again. "Unfortunately not. We talked the whole evening with Sebastian about it, but we have no solution yet."

Disappointed the four friends lowed their heads.

Axel made a short break. He couldn´t feel his legs, his arms ached and his breath was uncalm and heavy. Tilians blood streamed now down on him, too. But it was cold. Even though the clone was still alive. Axel forced his body to continue. His muscles protested as he carried Tilian through the tunnel. One time Axel fell over a stone. He saw nothing and very slowly he tried to move forwards.

Hardly he fell onto the ground. Another long scratch was on his cheek now. He didn´t care. He just wanted to reach the city. Tilian moaned in pain and opened his eyes shortly. "Tilian? Are you awake?", asked Axel hopefully. Maybe the clone could walk alone and Axel could lit a torch... _Of course, think again, Manning! You have nothing to lit a torch...there is even no torch around! Silly fool..._

"Not...really...", came the quiet answer and Tilian tried to move. But he was too weak and closed his eyes again. His breath was quiet, too quiet, thought Axel. Moreover his heartbeat was that weak that Axel could hardly feel his pulse. It was a wonder that the clone was still alive.

"Don´t wory, we´re nearly...there", said Axel weakly. His body shook and he had sweat on his forehead, but he didn´t matter. Everything didn´t count at the moment. He just wanted to be in safe again.

As Axel wanted to give up he suddenly saw the end of the tunnel. He forced his body to work for at least ten minutes, then everything would be over. Thankfully he walked a little faster. But this was a bad idea, his back began to ache. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours. He felt terribly weak, his eyes were half closed, his head ached. For a longer time he wouldn´t stay through this.

They reached the end of the tunnel. A hundred metres in front of him was the lift to the Hall of the Eldests. _Just a hundred metres...I can make this..._ Axel took his last energy and carried Tilian and himself into the lift. Finally...

"Then...sorry that we disturbed you. We just wanted to ask", said Lioness and turned around to go.

"Lioness, wait a moment. We talked about the marriage, too", stopped Sebastian her. She turned around at once. "Elian doesn´t remember the rules, but he wants to read in an old book, written in a complicated language. Only a few knows it. So it will take some time to find out what we can do in this case."

"I´m trying my best", said Elian slowly. "And as fast as I can..."

Lioness laughed in her mind. Fast? Elian was famous for that he was extremly slowly. "Thanks", she said.

Suddenly someone opened the door. Everyone whirled around to see who disturbed them. Two figures reeled in. They all couldn´t believe what they saw. Axel carried Tilian into the hall. Their clothes were haggled and torn up, full of blood and they had bruises and scratches nearly everywhere. Dust was on their clothes and they looked terribly weak.

"Help...us...", whispered Axel before he collapsed and passed out.

**Please review and tell me if you liked it! Yeah, I know, the last chapter has been a little bloody...but it was the most difficult one in this story! For you to read maybe, and for me to write. I tried to describe Axel´s situation in the castle as well as I could, hope ya liked it though! )**


	65. Shadows at the Horizon

Shadows at the Horizon

"Axel!" Quickly Lioness ran towards him. The others followed as fast as they could. She knelt down next to him and tried to wake him up. They called help for both of them, Axel _and_ Tilian. Axel was brought into his room, Tilian into another one so the elfin doctors could help him, too.

"Why did he help Tilian?", asked Shark confused. They waited in front of his room because some doctors were checking his wounds at the moment. No one knew the answer why Axel had done this.

"We can just ask himself", said King.

The doctors came out of the room. "You can see him if you want, but I guess he´s in a very deep sleep." The mood of the teens and Axel´s father lit up and they went into the room. Axel laid in his bed, around his chest and arms were thick bandages. The five crowded around his bed. Sebastian bent a little and listened to Axel´s heartbeat.

"Jo-Lan trance", he said surely. "He seemed to be really desperated to do this. This is a very high form of trance. It slows down your metabolism until others may think you´re dead. He tries to avoid the pain he feels."

"Can´t we wake him up? I mean his wounds won´t recover if his metabolism is that slowly", suggested King. Sebastian nodded. He whispered something into Axel´s ear. At once he opened his eyes slowly and looked around.

"Wow, how did you do this?", asked Hawk impressed. Sebastian grinned.

"Only one special sentence can reach a Jo-Lan warrior when he is in trance. Everything else you say won´t be heard. Just this sentence. But I won´t tell you, this is a well guarded secret only Jo-Lan masters are allowed to know."

"Where am I?",asked Axel quietly.

"Back in Rétaran", replied Lioness and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Where is Tilian? Did he survive?", asked Axel and sat up. But his back began to ache again and he fell back into his bed.

"I don´t know, he was alive when you brought him here. He´s in another room, some doctors take care of him", said Hawk.

"What have they done with you? You look terrible!", noticed Shark.

Axel told them the whole story. That Theresia was behind everything, that she wanted vengeance and that she caused him pain to find out where Rétaran was. "I could convince Tilian of helping me. He just did this because he wanted a real life so that he can live even if I´m dead", explained Axel. "But I was too weak and she could read my thoughts. She found out how to get here. In the same night we escaped and an arrow hit Tilian."

"Good", growled King. "He can die if you ask me."

"No, this would be wrong. He helped me, and now I´m helping him", said Axel and sat up. Very slowly so his wounds didn´t ache.

"Don´t do this again! We were sick of worry", said Lioness.

"Well, of course we were, but Lioness was really terrible. She asked the eldests every day what to do, she went one time back to the village to search any tracks. As she found nothing she came back, very disappointed and then she told me everything I knew yet", said King.

Lioness blushed. "Hey, I missed you, too", said Axel and smiled weakly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, but his back ached as she touched the wounds.

"Ehm...Li? I love you too, but you´re really hurting me", coughed Axel. She let him go. "Sorry..."

He pulled her into a kiss. Axel enjoyed this short moment, it was the only happy one since days. Now he felt his old strength coming back. Slowly, but surely.

"Theresia could be here tomorrow. We must tell the eldests about it", said Sebastian.

Axel nodded and wanted to go out of his bed. Lioness held him back. "You´ll stay here, you´re too weak", she said. Nevertheless Axel got out of the bed. "If you think you can hold me back you´re wrong", he said surely and got dressed. "By the way, the medicine of the elves is very good. I feel a lot better than some days before. And you don´t want to know how miserable I felt." He put on his shirt.

"Can we go?", he asked and looked at his confused friends.

"Are you sure?", asked Hawk back.

"Why not?"

"Some hours ago you´ve collapsed in the hall and now you want to stand up again. Don´t you think you should rest?"

"No, this is more important", replied Axel and walked out of the room. His friends shrugged their shoulders and followed him.

They went into the hall where the eldests were. To their surprise they found Jing there, too. Everyone looked at the five teens who came in. Sebastianf followed them. Jing´s face turned angry as he saw Axel who just smiled at him. He wanted to make Jing´s mood even worse. It worked. The eldests greeted them and the teens bowed to the eldests.

"Sorry for this interruption, but we have to tell you something important", said Axel.

"My eldests, don´t listen to him. Nothing important can come out of his mouth. Moreover he wants to take my wife away from me", said Jing to the old men.

"You haven´t married her yet!" Axel nearly shouted angry.

"But I´m going to do", replied the elf calmly and grinned gloatingly.

"Jing, he´s the dragon warrior. So if he has something important to say he should", interrupted Grim.

"But master, he´s too bold to be the dragon warrior. He even sleeps with her in the same bed..."

Axel´s head turned red because of embarassment and anger. "How dare you say that...!" Lioness now spoke up, "Why do you want to know that?"

"I have my sources", replied the elf and grinned.

"Young dragon warrior, control your anger. Please tell us what you wanted to tell", said Grim. Jing grinned gloatingly as the eldest remindered Axel. "And you, Jing, shouldn´t talk about him like that." Now Axel grinned gloatingly.

"As you know I was kidnapped some days ago", began Axel.

"Why didn´t you stay there?", asked Jing angry. Axel ignored that and Grim looked now remindering at Jing who shutted up at once and looked away. Axel continued,

"It turned out that Theresia is the mistress of the wolves who attacked the village. She kidnapped me to find out where Rétaran is. Four days she tortured me with her magic, but four days I kept my mouth closed-"

Jing coughed loudly. "And why don´t you do this now?", he asked quietly and hoped the eldests wouldn´t hear him. Grim just looked angry at the young elf so that he shutted up.

"I said nothing, but I grew weaker. On the fifth day I was too weak and..." Axel thought for a moment. If he mentioned the fight between him and Tilian the eldests wouldn´t help the clone to recover. So he left this out. "...and she could read my mind. She saw the way we went here and as we speak she´s coming closer with her army to get vengeance."

"Theresia is really alive? I thought she was dead...", said Grim thoughtfully.

"She wants vengeance on you and all other elves for the pain you caused her."

"That´s terrible, but she should know that our rules wanted it different. It wasn´t her destiny to come into the council of the eldests. She left and we erased her memories of the way to Rétaran", explained Grim. "If she really orders the wolves we´re lost. Jing, tell the soldiers to get ready for a battle. And tell them to blockate every way into this city. The women and children shall hide in the underground sanctuary beneath this tree and stay there until we tell them they are safe again."

Jing nodded, looked one last time hatefully at Axel and left the room.

"You should know he´s young, but he´s one of the best fighters here. Our martial-arts are very similar to your Jo-Lan. Maybe we can´t use energy waves with each punch and kick, but we can move very quickly and this is our advantage in fights. Never let a human being and an elf fight, the elf will win", said Grim as he noticed Axel´s asking look.

"Well, I see your wounds are very big. You should recover now", continued the eldest and spoke to Axel. "And you others can fight with us, if you want. We need every kind of help. Go to the soldiers and tell them I sent you. They´ll tell you what you can do."

The guys nodded and wanted to left. "And Catalina? Stay with the women, please." Lioness was shocked. "But why? I can fight, too!", he defended herself.

"I know, but the women and children need help. They need someone like a leader who tells them what to do", replied Grim.

Lioness bowed to the eldest and followed the guys. "You´re giving up, Li?", asked Shark confused.

"We had this before the battle, too. At the end I will stay with the woman somehow or other. So I don´t try it. But no one can tell me to stay there...", she replied.

"Okay, we´re going to the soldiers", said King surely. Hawk and Shark nodded and followed him. Sebastian stayed with Axel and Lioness. "I know Jing annoys you, but please try to stay calm. I fought for Lioness' right to marry who she wants. But there is no end of this argue yet. Elian still translates the old book...I hope he´ll find something", he said. "I´ll follow your friends."

Sebastian left and Axel and Lioness walked back to their room. Suddenly Axel stopped. "Do you know where Tilian is?", he asked. She nodded and showed him the way. Before they went into one of the rooms in the "hospital" (well, a long corridor with many rooms for injured people) an elf came out of it. He was a doctor so Axel decided to ask him what was up with Tilian.

"I have never seen a creature like him before. But his body is build like the one of a normal human or elf. Just some organs and body functions are different. Well, at the moment he´s sleeping. He had lost a lot of blood because of the wound, he´s still weak. But his body uses the advantage of being half a reptile, the wounds are healing faster than your wounds for example", he replied and looked at Axel who just nodded.

"I gave him something against the pain and bandaged the wound. I guess he will wake up soon. With our medicine he gets his old strength back very fast."

The doctor allowed them to go in and left. Quietly Axel opened the door and sneaked into the room because he was afraid Tilian would wake up. Lioness followed him slowly and closed the door quietly. The room was very simply furnitured. There were two windows, a table, a chair and a bed. The clone laid in the bed, asleep. Lioness sat down on the chair while Axel walked over to the bed.

He searched Tilian´s pulse. "His pulse is normal again...and his breath, too. You should have seen him hours ago. I have never seen him that weak before!"

Lioness looked at the clone. "Somehow...", she began and didn´t know what to say. Axel rose an eyebrow and looked at her. He understood.

"Somehow you feel sorry for him, right?", he asked and she just nodded a little. Axel sighed. "As much as I hate to say this...I feel the same way."

On the table next to the bed laid some notes. He picked them up and looked at them. "Interesting", he mumbered. "The elfin doctor wrote everything down. Injury, medicine he gave Tilian...he even made notes to Tilian himself. As if he had studied him." Axel smiled a little. "Those elves are vey curious."

"Yeah, I don´t want to see one of them bandaging my wound again", said Tilian quietly and sat up. He shook his head a little and laid down again as he felt his headache.

"So, how do you feel?", asked Axel and continued reading in the notes.

"Read the page with the medicines he gave me. I feel as if he put everything he has into me", replied the clone growling.

Axel turned to the next page and found a long list filled with different names of medicine and herbs. "Wow...he really gave you all this? You should be very calm now, there is a herb on the list which is used to oppress aggressive feelings...and something to let you fall asleep easier, moreover a painkiller...no, wait, here is a second one...and-"

"Stop, I don´t want to hear this!", interrupted Tilian growling.

Axel smirked and put the list back onto the table."I guess the first herb I mentioned didn´t work...you´re as aggressive as ever."

"Ts, I hate elves. Their so...vain and selfish! And they have no idea how to bandage a wound." The clone touched the bandage carefully. "You see?! The bandage is too lose."

After a time of silence Tilian went out of the bed and walked over to the window. He stretched shortly to check if he could move his arm. As he felt no pain he smiled slightly and opened the window to look out of it.

"The doctor said you´re still weak...but you look very strong at the moment", said Lioness surprised. "I see your wound healed very fast."

"Well, crocodiles have the rare quality to let their wounds heal much faster with a special secretion in their blood. It has some advantages to be a fake with bad breath." He glanced at Axel as he spoke the last sentence. Axel didn´t even look up. He sat on the bed and seemed to be in thoughts. Tilian turned to Lioness again. "You see, you´ll be completely ignored. By the way, the medicine of the elves helps the wound to heal really fast."

"What can you tell us about Theresia´s army?", asked Lioness.

"Not much. She has a lot of soldiers, some trolls and the wolves. They´ve been normal wolves a long time ago. But she poisoned their minds and they turned into evil spirits, cursed souls who listen to every single order of her. Those elves have no chance", he replied and grinned slightly. He walked over to Axel and stopped in front of him. Now Axel looked into his face and stood up. Seriously Tilian looked at him.

"Thanks", he just said quietly. "Thanks that you didn´t let me die."

"No big", replied Axel. "So now, will you help us to defeat Theresia´s army?"

Tilian sighed. "You...you helped me and now it´s my turn to help you...", he answered slowly. Axel smiled a little and placed his hand on the clone´s shoulder. Lioness smiled slightly as she watched them.

"No bad meaning, but there is a special resemblance between you", she said.

"Resemblance?!" Both looked at her, then at each other again. At the same time they frowned.

"I count this in a negative way", said Tilian. Axel nodded.

"Me too, this guy is nothing like me", he said and took a step backwards.

Lioness just laughed.

**Pleeeeease review, dudes!! Btw, I enabled the anonymous reviews, so you can review even if you´re no member! And some of you guys did, so, love ya all!!! )**

**BTW, the aspect with the crocodiles and that they have something in their blood is true! Well, I dunno if it helps to heal the wound **_**faster**_** but I know that it helps to heal the wound without any dangerous infections. So it is possible that the crocodile survives when it loses a leg for example. Other animals could die without medicine! Just to mention it ; ) **

**Additionally: I loooooove biology! xD**

**And: I know, there is not much action in this chapter...the next one will be better, I promise! But review, review, review so I know what I can change and improve!! )**


	66. Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows

It was early morning and the sun rose. "She could be here in half a day", said Tilian as he looked out of the window. It was a red sunrise, cold but beautiful. Axel opened a window and looked out of it. "The soldiers are doing everything they can. They block the tunnels and build small walls."

"Thisss won´t stop her", replied Tilian hissing angry.

"What´s wrong with you?", asked Lioness and looked at him. He looked confused back. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you so friendly to us? You´ve nearly recovered and could kill us easily. Or at least me", she said.

"This has many reasons", he began. "First of all I _had_ another master, someone who respected me at least a little. Maybe she tried to kill me, but that was after _he _came." He looked at Axel. He sighed. "But I got to know she wanted to kill me somehow or other. I shouldn´t have listened to her promises. Nevertheless I don´t know yet if my decision was right to help him."

"Why not? You´re safer here than with her", replied Lioness.

"But now I ask you, will you really help us to beat her?", asked Axel and offered Tilian his hand. The clone hesitated and looked straight into Axel´s face. "Even though we´re enemies you trust me and want me to help you?", he asked back. Axel nodded. "I guess I have no choice." He took Axel´s hand. They had a deal.

"I help you to get a real life and you will help us now." The clone nodded.

Just then Sebastian came in. He saw Axel and Tilian. First he looked at his son, then at Tilian and at last at Axel again. He seemed to be really confused. "So you became friends with your clone? Really strange things happen...", he said.

Tilian moaned annoyed and let Axel´s hand go. "Let me guess, another Manning? How many of you are around?!"

Sebastian smiled. "Don´t worry, only two of us. So, I see you two recovered very fast, the medicine of the elves is really good. I wanted to tell you that we expect the army in the afternoon, latest tomorrow at sunrise. I thought you wanted to know this. And if you need me, I´m talking to the eldests again. Because of the strategy. Or you can find me outside, don´t know yet." He went out of the room and left the three alone.

"Your father?", asked Tilian. Axel nodded. "Yeah, that´s obvious..."

"Are you not cold? I´m freezing in here even _with _my clothes and you wear just pants", said Axel after a while. It was really cold, the cool breeze of the morning came through the windows.

Tilian just cleared his throat loudly and shook his head. Axel understood. "Oh...sorry...reptiles are hematocryal..." Tilian nodded.

"You should rest a little now", interrupted Lioness and stood up. She had sat on the chair next to the table. "You _two _should rest now."

Axel and Lioness went out of the room and left Tilian alone. "He got very calm and wise", noticed Lioness. "He´s not as aggrressive as before. You can talk to him like to a normal person."

Axel nodded.

"I think the whole time he had been treaten bad and now we´re treating him like a normal person we want to help. So he sees no reason to be aggressive", guessed Lioness.

He nodded again.

"Can´t you say something?", asked Lioness annoyed.

"He still hates me, but he´s okay", replied Axel absent-minded.

"Hate? I think he just tries not to sound too friendly. He´s afraid this could be his weakness", she gave back. Axel nodded again. Lioness said nothing. They went into their room again and Axel moved slowly his arms to check if his shoulders still ached. Even his back seemed to be okay. Lioness wanted him to go to bed, so he did. Moreover he felt tired after his long journey and his muscles ached after carrying Tilian through the tunnels.

Axel went to bed and fell quickly asleep. He hadn´t slept for days and now he was lucky to have a real bed.

Axel woke up some time later. He couldn´t sleep very well, even though the bed was very comfortable and he was lucky to have one. With a sigh he stood up and got dressed. He couldn´t sleep while the others planned a battle. First of he decided to eat something.

Lioness was gone, he saw her outside as he looked out of the window. Meanwhile the sky turned darker, clouds appeared and very rarely the sun came out. And it became colder, too. Axel met no one on his way to the kitchen. Everyone was outside helping.

He opened the door to the kitchen and stepped in. To his surprise no one was there. At this time the cooks were busy with preparing the dinner. Normally. This was no normal day, everyone helped outside with the defence walls. But one elf was in the kitchen. It was Jing who put two couples of tea onto the table and fetched a small bottle out of his pocket. In it was a chrimson liquid.

"What are you going to do with this?", asked Axel and took a step closer. Jing winced as he heard him and nearly let the bottle fall down.

"I´m preparing some tea for Cat", he said and smirked sightly as he saw _who_ came in.

"But this doesn´t look like sugar. What´s in the bottle?", continued Axel asking.

"Nothing special...one thing is bugging me. You say you´re a good fighter, why didn´t you fight with this lizard and escaped?" He tried to change the theme. "Too weak, huh?"

"Yeah, but in a special way. I was drugged, beaten, tortured with magic, thirsty and nearly killed", replied Axel. "So, now, tell me what in this bottle is!"

"If you want to know... a special liquid for your girlfriend. She´ll fall in love with the first guy she sees, and that will be me. If she doesn´t want to marry me, I must force her. And her death would be a waste", smirked the elf.

Axel took quickly the bottle away from Jing. "You won´t do anything to her!"

"Why not? You can´t be always around her", said Jing. He took a couple of tea and drank it. "And while we´re talking everyone out there tries to defend this city. You shouldn´t help us, this will make everything worse. This is not your league, guy. And by the way, your girlfriend is a really good kisser."

With this he walked past Axel and left the kitchen. Furious Axel took the bottle and poured the liquid into a flower pot. _Lioness kissed this guy? Why...?_ He thought angry, but threw this thought away. He trusted Lioness.

Axel looked out of a window and saw his friends helping the elves to build the defence. He decided to help them.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tilian walked out of his room and went down the corridor. He saw that one of the large window doors was open. The clone looked out of it and found a balcony outside. The happenings beneath him caught his attention, so he walked over to the rail and looked down. A lot of elves tried to build defence walls with wood and stones. Tilian just laughed shortly and ironically while shaking his head.

Those walls would never stop the army of Theresia. She was too powerful for them.

Suddenly he felt a presence behind him and turned around. Sebastian Manning looked at him, leaning against the frame of the door and his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Why don´t you help them?", he asked just.

Tilian rose an eyebrow. "Why don´t _you_ help them?", he hissed back. "By the way I´m still injured."

Sebastian smiled slightly and walked over to the rail. He looked at the four guys under the tree. King, Axel, Shark and Hawk carried wooden beams over to the defence walls. "He´s injured, too, but this doesn´t hold him back from helping his friends." He looked at Axel who helped Hawk to carry a heavy wooden beam. Even though Sebastian couldn´t see his face he knew he felt a lot of pain in his wounds.

"He´s the exeption. He´s just a crazy fool", growled Tilian.

"But he wants to help his friends, so if I were you I would think again. Who is the real fool?"

Tilian didn´t reply at once. Then he spoke up, "He told me the same sentence when he was Theresia´s prisoner." Tilian thought of the moment_."You should ask you who of us is really crazy. I, because I don´t want to betray my friends, or you, because you believe in the words of an old snake", replied Axel quietly. _

Tilian shook his head. "He´s still a fool who he makes his injuries even worse."

"If this is your opinion...well, think about my words." Sebastian turned around and walked away.

Tilian looked down. Then he growled something angry and walked away from the balcony, too.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Axel looked up as he saw someone walked towards him. "Tilian? What are you doing here?", he asked surprised.

"Trying to help you...if you accept my help."

"Of course we do! We can need every kind of help", replied Axel and soon he showed Tilian what was to do. But he was still amazed the clone wanted to help them. Later he got used to this situation and Tilian and the four guys worked together after some time.

At the evening everyone was tired. The bowmen placed in the treehouses and were ready to shoot at every time. Hawk went with them, too. He wanted to test his new bow he had won. It began to rain as the sun setted. A lot of torches were placed under the trees, next to the walls and nearly everywhere so they could see better. Within minutes the whole ground was full of mud and the ones who stood in the rain were completely wet and cold.

Just like Axel, Tilian, King, Hawk and Shark. They finished the wall and now they stood under a tree. They waited for their fight. "Okay, we have our weapons, we´re wet and cold and standing here without anything to do, right?", asked Hawk and wrapped his arms around his body because he froze. Distrustful he looked at the sword Axel had given Tilian.

Exept the rain there was no sound. The elves were ready to fight, too. In their armours and with their weapons they stood around the walls or kept watch. Everyone was quiet. Then the silence was broken by a growling and regular sound. It grew slowly louder.

"The army", said Shark. "Dudes, they must be at least a thousand!"

"Fivethousand soldiers, a hundred wolves and five trolls are under her control", corrected Tilian.

"Trolls? You mean those big creatures with wooden clubs?", asked Shark. Tilian nodded. The sound of the marching army turned louder. After some endless moments Tilian sighed and turned to Axel.

"Mannnig...I just wanted to tell you...please don´t die", he said.

"I´ll try my best", replied Axel and smiled sadly.

They stood there for some long moments, staring into the darkness and waiting for the attack of the army.

**Sorry for this cut here...please review, I hope you liked it! )**


	67. The Beginning of the End

The Beginning of the End

Through the rain a dark shadow ran towards the guys. It was Lioness. She wore her green uniform again, the shirt with the long arms and the pants with the yellow lines. Around her waist was a dark belt with a sword. She grinned at the guys. Her hair and her clothes were completely wet and she hurried to them to stand under the tree. She rubbed her arms because she froze.

"Ready to beat up some soldiers?", she asked grinning.

"Fivethousand soldiers, a hundred wolves and five trolls", repeated Tilian. "No big."

"Oh..." Lioness´ mood sank a little.

"You´re allowed to fight?", asked Axel.

"Of course, someone must take care of you", she replied. Tilian giggled.

"I don´t know what´s that funny, if he dies you do, too", she said with a sharp hissing voice.

"I know, but...nah, forget it." Tilian wiped the rain out of his face. He looked around. Everything was quiet, no elf moved. But he could feel the fear of them. The wolves were very close, they intensified the fear of the elves and tried to beat them this way.

"Li?" Axel bent over to Lioness and whispered into her ear so only she could hear him. "Did you really...kiss Jing?" Lioness looked shocked into his face. Fortunately it was dark and he couldn´t see her face getting red. "Tell me the truth." He took her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"After you´ve been kidnapped he came to our room...as I wanted to close the door he grabbed me and suddenly kissed me...I couldn´t do anything, he was too strong...I didn´t want it, believe me!" She said quietly and remembered the pain in her heart as Jing had kissed her. And the feeling as his tongue had entered her mouth...She shook her head to forget this pictures.

Axel´s stomach cramped as she told her this. But he knew she hadn´t wanted this. He pulled her into a tight hug while she nearly cried. He ran his hand down her back and tried to calm her down. "No matter", he said as he pushed her slowly and gently away. She nodded just and swallowed her tears. Then there was silence, only the sound of the rain drops filled the air.

"Err...Tilian?", began Lioness quietly. He looked at her. "The eldests said they will give you a real life...if you prove that you´re now on our side. And that you will stay on this side for the rest of your life. The beginning could be this battle", she said.

He just shrugged his shoulders. "We´ll see", he said emotionless. Tilian looked to the tunnels again. At the last one he stared for a long time, it was the one to the long valley before Theresia´s castle. "I can see them walking through the tunnels. Do you hear this sound? The trolls destroy the tunnels to get through them. Not long and they´ll be here", he said.

"You see them? I just see wooden walls", said King.

"I can see the heat of living organisms. Just like a snake", replied the clone. "It has many advantages to be a fake." While he said this he looked at Axel. Axel looked up.

"Hey, I said you´re a fake with bad teeth okay? Just a fake is something very different", he defended himself and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Of course", said Tilian ironic and rolled his eyes.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion. They all whirled around to see the tunnel. Well, the former tunnel. Now there was a large whole in the mountains and big rocks flew through the air. Some elves were hit, but most of them could avoid the rocks. The wall had been blown up, too. Smoke rose into the air and the rain pattered without any pause onto the ground. Silence.

Then the sound of the marching soldiers continued. And five large shadows, each one nearly four metres tall, came out of the smoke. They had darkgreen skin and looked very ugly and creepy. In their hands were wooden clubs with sharp thorns.

"Trolls", said Tilian. "Try to avoid the clubs. They´re weak on their necks!"

"What is he, our leader?", asked Shark.

"No, our leader´s clone. But he´s right, so do what he says", replied King and pulled his sword out of the scabbard. Behind the trolls were the wolves, like giantic beasts with blurry contours and red eyes they ran towards the elves to attack them. Then came the soldiers with their thick armours and their long lances. The bowmen of the elves shot as fast as they could. As their arrows showed no effect on the trolls they shot at the wolves.

The teens ran into the fight. "Take care of the trolls first, they´re most dangerous!", yelled one elf.

"Then, bring it on!" Axel ran towards a troll. He ducked under its strike with the club and ran through its legs. He cut the senew on the right leg, the troll screamed in pain and fell on the ground. It swang its club and tried to hit Axel. He jumped into the air and avoided the sharp thorns. His back began to ache, but he ignored it. Quickly he landed on the back of the troll and stang his sword into its neck.

It screamed and growled, moved wildly and was blind because of anger. It tried to throw Axel off its back, but before it could it fell dead to the ground. As the giantic troll fell Axel jumped quickly and landed on the ground again. Then he ran towards his friends. A lot of soldiers were in his way. Soldiers of Theresia. They had black armours and looked like shadows. He kicked three of them to get through the black mass of the army.

Axel saw that Lioness and King killed one troll, another one fell because the bowmen had shot nearly a hundred arrows at this creature. There were two trolls left. But Axel was busy with the soldiers around him. He avoided their weapons, ducked under their attacks, whirled around, swang his sword or kicked them. The elves fought hardly, too. They moved elegant and quickly, used their swords or just their hands to defeat the soldiers.

The soldiers went away and a wolf came towards Axel. It growled and at once Axel felt this fear in his mind. It was the wolf with just one eye, the one he had met in the forest before they had come to Rétaran. It hadn´t been killed before Axel had been kidnapped...somehow this thing had survived and moved wtih the red light to another place.Now the wolf growled deeply and stared at him with its red eye. Axel went into fighting position. He ignored his fear, he just wanted to kill this creature.

"Come on, you couldn´t finish me the first and the second time, so now you won´t beat me, too", he said.

The wolf growled deeply. Then it jumped towards Axel. He could avoid the attack and swang his sword to hit the wolf´s leg. It jumped backwards and whirled around. Axel jumped into the air to avoid the tail of the wolf. Instead of him, it wiped some soldiers away. Quickly Axel landed on the wolf´s back and tried to cut its throat. But the wolf didn´t want it. It moved wildly, growled angry and jumped up and down. Axel couldn´t hold onto the short skin and flew against a tree.

With a moan of pain he landed on his knees. As the wolf came towards him he suddenly passed out.

Meanwhile King, Lioness and Shark saw that Axel was thrown against a tree and passed out. They switched short looks and ran towards him to help him. Through the battle between elves and soldiers they ran towards their friend. The wolf stood close next to Axel and was about to bite him. Suddenly Tilian appeared out of nowhere and kicked the wolf´s mouth. It roared in pain. Shark jumped onto the back of the big animal and held onto the short skin.

At once the wolf tried to throw him away, it jumped up and down, fore- and backwards. But Shark could hold onto it. "Wow, dudes! Better than surfing! You must try this!", he yelled laughing. Lioness and King carried Axel away and pulled him behind a large root of the tree with the Hall of the Eldests while Tilian was in the fight again and beat up some soldiers. Behind the root was everything quiet, not a single creature or soldier was here. And no light, too. There was darkness.

Just a little light came from the battlefield. Some wooden walls burned, smoke rose into the air, yells and screams echoed in the valley and the sound of weapons which were driven against each other filled the air. It was a terrible picture and the army of Theresia seemed to win. Now just one troll was still alive, at least fourty wolves and a lot of soldiers. Everything seemed hopeless.

With a little water out of a near spring they tried to wake up Axel. In vain. "Man, we need him!", said King. Then a dark shadow jumped over the root and landed next to them. It was Shark. He grinned over his whole face. "I drove this wolf against a large tree. This dude will sleep for some time."

Another shadow rolled over the root and landed breathless next to the teens. This time it was Tilian. "Something wrong?", he asked as he saw Axel lying on the ground. Lioness shook her head.

"So far everything okay, but we need some rest. I know we´ve been fighting for just half an hour, but this was long enough against this army", she said and leaned against the root.

"And let´s hope he´ll wake up soon", added King.

"Looks bad for the elves. There must be a wonder to win this fight", noticed Shark as he looked over the root at the battlefield.

"But I have no idea", said Lioness.

"Man...what had happened?", asked suddenly a quiet voice from the ground. They all looked down and saw that Axel woke up. Slowly he sat up and shook his head carefully.

"Of course we had to rescue you because you couldn´t take care of yourself", replied Tilian. "It´s a wonder that you´re still alive. The wolf was about to kill you."

"But Tilian saved you just in time", said King and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Surprised Axel looked at his clone who just crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away as he noticed Axel´s amazed look. After some time Tilian looked at him again and noticed Axel still couldn´t really believe he had saved him.

"Take a picture and you can stare longer at it", said the clone annoyed.

"Thanks", said Axel just.

"No big."

Axel stood up and looked over the root. The elves could kill the wolves, so that there were now about fifty of them, but the soldiers were still a problem and meanwhile there were not many elves left. "We should help them. Everyone of us can beat a lot of soldiers. We must take care of the wolves, first. They´re the worst problem. If they´re gone, the soldiers may leave because they´re too frightened to die. This last part would be a piece of the cake", said Axel.

"For someone who passed out some minutes ago you can think very clearly", said King. Axel shrugged his shoulders. Lioness went over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Then she jumped onto the root and looked at her friends. She pulled her sword out of the scabbard. With a serious face she looked at them.

"I´ll choose the marriage with Jing or the death. And of course I´ll choose the death, so I can die here at once, this makes no difference", she said seriously. "So let´s kick their ugly asses and show them that we can fight!"

"Very impressing, cutie, and an amazing shortsighted plan, too", interrupted Tilian. Everyone looked at him. "There are just two ways to kill the wolves. You can kill them one after one and waste a lot of power or you destroy the source of their energy, Theresia´s magic. She uses a seal, a ring she always wears on her right hand. With this she was powerful enough to make the wolves her slaves."

"So if this seal was destroyed the wolves will lose the evil magic and become normal animals again", finished King.

"Right."

"But where is she?", asked Shark.

"As I was her assistent-"

"You mean slave", interrupted Axel. Tilian rolled his eyes and growled. "Okay, then _slave_!" He really spat out this word. "As I worked for her - better so?! - I could have a look into the plans of her army. She´s behind the last front of the east flank. The line is full of soldiers, no wolves or trolls. Easy game if I may say so."

"If we destroy the ring which is the seal we could win this battle", summarized Lioness and jumped off the root. She landed next to Axel and put her sword back. "Any plans to get to Theresia?"

**Sounds a little bit like LORD OF THE RINGS "destroying the ring" ... Well, I´ll call it seal or ring, it´s the same. Btw, I dunno if Tilian can see the heat of living organisms...xD I invented this quiality, k? Hope it doesn´t matter!**

**Please review!**


	68. The Black Seal

The black Seal

After making a short plan Axel, King, Lioness, Shark and Tilian used the trouble of the battle between elves, soldiers and wolves to get to Theresia. She stood grinning behind the last line of soldiers who were fighting hardly with the elves. Her long hair was in a ponytail and she wore her usual dark coat. She thought herself as the winner of this fight and grinned. She stood on a small plataeu just a little over the battlefield.

Very slowly Axel came from behind and sneaked over to her. "Ah, so you could escape with the help of your clone. I thought you could convince Tilian earlier, but very impressing that you could. Are you here to congratulate me for my win?", she asked without turning around. At once Axel stopped in his movement. Now Theresia turned around. He stood nearly three metres in front of her and looked surprised into her pale face which was full of hate and happyness at the same time.

"Tilian was created to hunt you down. Not to kill you, but to fight you. So why do you think he´s on your side?", she asked smiling. Behind himself Axel heard an angry hiss of Tilian who tried to stay calm. The others held him back.

"He´s my clone, I know him!", replied Axel.

"Do you really know him? Or just his surface? You talk of him as if he was your possess."

"What do you mean?", asked Axel confused and distrustful. His muscles strained. He would have liked to kill this woman at once and to destroy the seal. For a second he saw something black around her ring finger on the right hand. It was the ring.

Theresia didn´t reply. "Tilian, come to me!", she ordered. Axel turned around and saw Tilian standing there. His hands formed fists and the clone seemed to fight with his thoughts. The woman repeated the order. Slowly Tilian walked over to her and placed next to her. Then he looked at the teens. Slowly his mouth formed a grin. Axel couldn´t believe what he saw. A great anger went through his body, a little hate, too. He felt so betrayed, so used.

"Why?", he just asked.

"You have to learn more about me, Manning. I thought you knew me good enough to know I will never stay on your side", replied Tilian.

"You´re just standing on the side with the most power at the moment. You attitude was completely different some hours ago", said Axel. Then he turned to his friends. "Get it, I´ll take care of this snake!"

King, Shark and Lioness nodded and ran towards Theresia. As Tilian was about to attack them Axel jumped into his way. "You played your silly tricks with the wrong guy, Tilly", he said. Tilian was now easier to provoke. He hissed furiously and went into fighting position. Axel attacked his clone angry.

Tilian kicked Axel, missed and went to the ground to kick his legs. Axel jumped and kicked the clone, but his attack was blocked. The clone tried to punch him, but Axel grabbed Tilian´s arm and kicked him. Tilian growled angry, then he kicked Axel´s belly so that he flew into the air. Tilian jumped and kicked Axel another time. With each time he kicked Axel they went a little higher into the air. As they were high enough the clone kicked Axel that hard that he landed hardly on the ground.

With a moan of pain Axel tried to stand up. His belly ached and he looked up as Tilian landed next to him. Before the clone could punch him he rolled out of the way. Quickly he stood up again, but his back began to ache. The wounds sprang a little open and blood came out of them. Axel tried to ignore this hardly. "Why are you doing this? We promised to help you!", said Axel as he ducked under Tilian´s kick.

"This is not your business, Manning", replied the clone. "But if you want to know I planned this since the day I met you in the valley."He blocked Axel´s kicks and punches and tried to hit him. He missed because Axel ducked, jumped or turned backflips.

"Did _you_ plan it, or was is your mistress's plan? You´re just her tool", said Axel as he kicked his clone. He missed. Tilian said nothing, instead of he kicked Axel hardly so that he fell onto the ground. He squirted his paralyzing venom at Axel so he couldn´t move. As Tilian noticed the others tried to attack Theresia he ran over to them.

"Look out!", yelled Axel. Just in time his friends looked around and noticed Tilian. He spat some venom at the three, but they could jump away before the green liquid hit them.

"Get outta my grill or you have to puzzle your bones together when I have finished with you!" King ran towards Tilian and tried to grab him. The clone quickly jumped and landed on King´s shoulders. He kicked him and turned a somersault to land in front of King. With another kick he was sent to the ground. But King stood up again. Now he was really angry.

"You should better write numbers on your bones, dude, or you won´t get them together again", joked Shark. As an answer some venom flew towards him. He took just one step sidewards and the venom splashed onto the ground. "And you should take a lesson at aiming."

Lioness helped King. She came from behind and kicked Tilian´s back so that King could grab the clone. Then he quickly threw him against a tree. With a hiss Tilian crashed into the tree but stood up again. Shark tried to punch him, but he avoided the attack and turned a backflip to land behind Lioness who came from behind. He kicked her back and she was thrown against Shark.

Tilian spat his venom at them and they laid on the ground. They couldn´t move. As King started another attack Tilian ducked quickly, kicked his legs away and kicked him another time so that he fell on Lioness and Shark. After another spit of venom the three laid on the ground and couldn´t move. Tilian grinned. He walked back to his mistress and waited for the next orders.

"We must do something!", said Shark and tried to see something. But Lioness´ hair were in his view. "Ever thought of a new haircut, dude?", he asked annoyed.

"You´re the right person who asks this!", growled Lioness back. "Can you get off me, King? I have your feet in my face", she said to King.

"Guys!" Everyone (exept Shark who couldn´t) looked at Axel now. He laid close next to them. "Stay calm, we need a new plan!"

They thought of any plan. At the moment they couldn´t move, the effect of the paralyzing venom would be weakened in some time. But this was too much time. In this time Theresia´s army would have won and everything would be over. The team was beaten. Everyone laid on the ground and couldn´t move. Everyone exept...

"Hawk! He´s still free!" King looked over to the tree where Hawk was. He now noticed the red haired guy looked into their direction and saw their situation. He strained his bow and aimed at Theresia. He let the string go and the arrow flew towards the woman. But before the arrow hit her Tilian caught it in the middle of the air. Grinning he broke the arrow into two pieces. Hawk shot two arrows at the same time, but Tilian could catch them again.

Hawk climbed down the tree and ran over to them to attack Tilian frontal. He ducked under the kicks of the clone. "I thought you were on our side!"

"Then think again!" Tilian punched Hawk and he fell on his friends. Tilian spat his venom at Hawk, too. "Man, this venom makes marks on my clothes!"

"HAWK!", yelled his friends at the same time. At once he shutted up. "Any plans?", asked Shark.

Tilian went over to Theresia again. "Mistress, please give me more power so that I can finish with these weak creatures once and for all!", he said and bowed to her. The teens watched the scene with fear and desperation. They couldn´t do anything.

Theresia thought for a moment. "You´ve been a good servant, so why not? And by the way your idea with decepting them was really good. So I think...", she said and smiled. She held her hand over the clone and he suddenly disappeared in a black cloud of smoke. "Let´s put some fire into this story!", said Theresia.

Seconds passed until the cloud finally disappeared. Tilian was gone, now there stood a green dragon with red glowing eyes. Theresia grinned as she saw the confused and afraid faces of the teens. "I made his reptilian parts stronger and put some magic into him. So now he´s a dragon." Tilian was not bigger than Axel had been in form of a dragon, but he looked very dangerous. His skin was green and his claws were pitch-black.

The wings on his back had a light-green skin and on the end of his long tail was a thorn in form of an arrowhead. First the dragon didn´t seem to know where or what he was. After looking around he focused the teens with his red eyes. The large head came very close towards them. "Time to finish with you guys", said Tilian and showed them his sharp and large teeth.

Tilian rose into the air and took the teens with his giantic claws. He carried them higher and higher into the air. "Wait until I get you!", yelled King furious.

"Trust me, I know what I´m doing", replied Tilian shortly and flew through the top of a large tree. He noticed that some soldiers had climbed this tree. Tilian dropped the five teens and instead of them he now took five of the soldiers. He flew higher and higher with them until he threw them into the sky and burned them in a hot flame which came out of his mouth.

As Tilian flew slowly back to Theresia the effect of the paralyzing venom was weakened. The teens could move again. "Why did he do this?", asked Hawk confused and stood slowly up.

"Don´t know, but Theresia should think we have been up there instead of the soldiers, so she might think we´re dead. Now we have the moment of surprise on our side", said Axel. "Come on, let´s destroy her seal!" They climbed down the tree and sneaked over to the plataeu again. Tilian landed next to his mistress. She grinned.

"Very well done, Tilian", she smirked. The dragon seemed to bow to her. As Theresia turned to the battlefield again Tilian noticed the teens on the edge of the plataeu. He gave them a short signal. Then he suddenly rose his head and grabbed the old woman with his mouth. A second later she disappeared in his large throat. The teens ran over to him as he laid down on the ground slowly, his legs shaking a little.

"So you´ve been on our side the whole time?", asked Axel.

He nodded. "I just wanted to get enough power to defeat her."

"But eating her? Now the seal is in your large dragon-stomach and we can´t destroy it!", said Lioness. She looked at the large dragon whose body shook a little.

"She´s right, the wolves are still there", added King.

The dragon coughed hardly. After three or four big and heavy coughs something small, black and round flew out of his mouth. It was the ring. Surprised the teens looked at Tilian. His dragon-face cramped and he fell on his side. "Bad idea to eat her...", he said quietly. "Please, destroy the ring, she´s killing me from the inside!" He roared in pain.

"Calm down", said Lioness and placed her hand on the dragon´s head.

"You can say this so easily!", gave Tilian back and hissed with his forked dragon-tongue. "You have no ugly woman in your stomach!"

"And how can we destroy the seal?", asked Hawk.

"Could you hurry up a little?! I´m dying here...!"

"King, get this heavy rock overthere! If we throw it onto the ring it may break!", guessed Lioness. King went over and lifted the rock. As it was too heavy Shark and Hawk helped him. Meanwhile the dragon grew weaker.

"She´s killing me...", said Tilian weakly.

"Hold on, it´s nearly over. When the ring is destroyed her magic will disappear and you´ll stay alive", said Axel. _I guess..._, he added in thoughts and placed his hand on the dragon´s head. Tilian looked at him and seemed to laugh a little.

"Do you know what your problem is? You´re taking too...much care of other people, Manning", he replied.

"Axel", he corrected. "My friends call me Axel."

Tilian seemed to be too surprised about this to reply. He looked shortly at the three guys who slowly carried the rock to the ring. It seemed to last hours. Then Tilian looked at Axel again. "I always tried to rescue you to save my own life...this was...the first time I did something...just to safe _your_ life and not...mine...", he said weakly and breathless. His face cramped again in pain.

Axel replied nothing. "Thank you...", said the dragon.

"For what?"

"That...you trusted me...even though we are enemies..."

"No, we _were_ enemies", corrected Axel.

Tilian closed his eyes. Then he didn´t move and just laid there still and quietly. His unregular breath stopped slowly. The dragon was dead. Just some seconds later the three guys dropped the rock onto the ring. Only some seconds too late for Tilian, the dragon.

**Okay, okay...**

**1) I loooooove dragons (and ninjas...well, and ninjas called Dragon XD) So there is another dragon for the big finale! P**

**2) Err..yah...Tilian is now a friend, no enemy. Well, pls wait for the next chapters, there will be a surprise soon! But I guess he´ll stay on the good side. **

**3) Please review dudes! I´m afraid Tilian turning into one of the goods was a little...dunno...well, this is my fanfic, and my ideas, but I hope you liked this chapter anyay**


	69. New Beginning

New Beginning

As the rock fell onto the ring suddenly fine lines of light rose into the air and the wolves disappeared in a silver light. And most of the soldiers, too. The elves could beat the rest of the army easily and every evil force was gone. As the last soldier fell they cheered and the rain stopped. The sunrise appeared and bright, yellow light of the early morning sun fell onto the battlefield.   
Everywhere laid dead bodies, of soldiers and elves. Broken lances, destroyed axes and swords laid all over the ground, shields with deep scratches or arrows in them, too. The elves searched their friends and mates in the mud. The dead bodies were carried to the large tree with the Hall of the Eldests. They laid them down in a row and spoke prayers to make sure they could rest in piece.   
Tilian became smaller and smaller and turned into his former appearance again. On the ground laid now the dead body of the clone the teens had known. Axel knelt next to his clone. Now everything was over, the battle was won. But Tilian had died and would never get the life he had always wanted. He had died just seconds before the battle had ended. _Amazing how seconds can decide over life and death..._   
Axel laid his head on Tilian´s chest and listened. There was nothing. Not any sound of life. Disappointed Axel sighed. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Lioness, she stood close next to him. As Axel was about to stand up he suddenly heard a cough. Quickly he looked down at Tilian again.   
The clone coughed hardly and opened his eyes. "I guess I...I can´t eat anything for the next time", he said as he sat up slowly. The clone held his belly. Tilian looked confused around. He noticed everyone standing around him.   
"Are you okay or is something wrong?", he asked. Happily Axel breathed out and hugged his clone. Tilian let it happen but rose an eyebrow. Axel let him go quickly.   
Ebarassed Axel rubbed the back of his neck and grinned. "I´m just happy that you´realive", he said and stood up. Tilian did, too. "Funny to hear this from you", he said.   
"Finally it´s over now and we can take care of our own problems again", said Hawk and stretched tiredly. He yawned.   
"Not really, there´s still the thing with the marriage", sighed Lioness.   
"And the eldests promised me to give me a life", added Tilian and smiled slightly. "If you don´t want to marry that guy I could kill you two..." He stopped as he saw the angry faces of the teens. "Man, just a suggestion! Stay calm, this wasn´t serious! As much as I hate to say, but how could I kill the guys who saved my life?"   
"Well rescued", said King.   
The whole next day everyone took care of the injured people. The teens and Tilian helped to tidy up everything. They carried the broken weapons and shields away, repaired the most needed buildings and places and helped the elves with some other things. At the evening Sebastian finally found the group. "Hey, I searched you the whole day!", he said. Over the whole battle he had fought on the right front, far away from the teens. He still wore his Jo-Lan uniform he had worn in the fight. But it was haggled, a little cut on some places and covered with blood and sweat.   
"Listen, the eldests want to see you tomorrow. They saw what Tilian did and said that he proved his loyality towards you and the elves. So they´ll give him the life he wants. And they want to tell you, Axel and Lioness, what to do because of the marriage. But only tomorrow, they have no time for that today. So you must wait a little", said Sebastian smiling.   
Lioness fell around Axel´s neck and kissed him. They fell onto the ground, but they didn´t matter. She broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. "I told you, there is a way", said Axel and smiled. They stood up again. For the rest of the day they continued helping and in the evening the city Rétaran looked better than shortly after the fight.   
"I´m just glad to see my bed again", said Hawk tiredly as they walked to their rooms. Everyone was covered with mud, blood and everyone had scratches and some injures. Tiredness was in their eyes and they couldn´t stand any longer.   
"Me too", agreed Shark. He yawned.   
"Good night, guys", said King and disappeared in his room.   
"Good night!"   
Axel stretched tiredly and put off his dirty clothes. He hung them over a chair next to the bed. All of his muscles protested at each movement and his whole body ached. Only with his undershirt and boxers he went to bed. Happily about the warm bed and the soft blanket he pulled the blanket up to his chin and closed his eyes. Some time later Lioness went to bed, too.   
She yawned tiredly and looked at him. "Finally we can take some rest", she said quietly. Axel didn´t reply. She noticed his breath was calm and quietly, he was asleep. Lioness just smiled a little and closed her eyes, too. She yawned shortly before a deep sleep caught her.   
_"Are you sure you want to choose the death instead of the marriage?", asked Grim, one of the eldests. Lioness nodded seriously. The man sighed sadly and told her to follow him. He led her to a small plataeu at the end of the valley. From there she had a great view over Rétaran. _   
_"Everyone who chose the death always died here with this blade", he said and gave her a long sword. It looked very value and had a gently form with some curves. It was surely an elf´s sword. The handle was full with ornaments and red lines. On the blade itself was a red tear drawn into the metal. Lioness took the sword and looked at it for a long time. _   
_She noticed her friends running up to the plataue to stop her. She just ignored them and looked at Rétaran now. The wind blew through her hair and she closed her eyes for a last moment. _   
_"Cat! Don´t do this!", yelled Axel and tried to come over to her, but some elfin guards held him back. "Please! Stay here!" She noticed his shaking voice, but didn´t turn around to see him. "Please...!"_   
_Lioness closed her eyes. "I can´t", she replied with a shaking voice. "I must do this...for both of us." Her grip around the sword´s handle went stronger, she really shook now. Axel used his Jo-Lan to blast the guards away, as fast as he could he ran towards her. The seconds seemed to pass like hours. _   
_One second..._   
I must do this...I have no choice. Being dead will be easier for him AND for me instead of being married with Jing..._, she thought sadly. _   
_Two seconds..._   
_"Catalina!"_   
_Three seconds..._   
_She closed her eyes and tears ran down her face as she took the sword stronger than before. With one hard flip she bored it into her chest. Lioness felt her power growing weaker, her heart beating slowlier and slowlier. She couldn´t feel her legs, slowly she sank to the ground. Axel caught her before she hit the ground. _   
_"Why have you done this?", asked Axel whispering into her ear. She heard his gently voice as if he spoke through cotton wool. "You mustn´t leave me." His voice shook hardly and he tried not to cry. But he did. Lioness felt some tears falling onto her shoulder. But all this seemed to happen very far away. She couldn´t move her lips, she couldn´t speak. She grew weaker with every heartbeat, each of them could be her last one. _   
_Axel wrapped his arms around her and took the handle of the sword. He took one last breath in, then he bored it deeper into Lioness´ body so that the blade went through his own heart, too. "I won´t let you go...", he whispered and wrapped his arms around her body. He held her tightly, they both knelt on the ground. Axel knelt behind Lioness and a sword had went through their both chests. _   
_He cried and buried his face into her shoulder. And he grew weaker, too. His heart beat slowlier than before until it beat one last time. Then he breathed his last breath and his life went out of his body. Just like Lioness´. Together they died, in each other´s arms. _   
Lioness sat up, her breath was uncalm and heavy. She was bathed in sweat and looked around in the darkness of the night. Then she noticed where she was. She laid in her bed and had just dreamed. It has just been a dream. Just a dream..., she thought and tried to calm down. _But it has been so real..._With a sad sigh she fell back into the bed.   
Next to her laid Axel and was deeply asleep. Lioness lifted his blanket and came over to him. Quietly she clung her body to his and wrapped his arm around her waist. She pulled the blanket up to her chin and buried her face in the pillow. Now that she felt the warmth of his body and his regular breath she felt a little safer and calmed down. Lioness closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep again. But the pictures of her dream were still in her head. She didn´t notice that she began to cry.   
"Li? What´s up?", asked Axel sleepy as he noticed Lioness lying in his arms and crying quietly. He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and pulled her to his body. "Calm down", he said. "And tell me what´s up."   
"I just had...a bad dream", she replied quietly.   
"Seemed to be a really bad dream when you´re crying", he said.   
"Then a _really _bad dream...I don´t want to talk about it", whispered Lioness and closed her eyes.   
"Don´t worry...I won´t let you go...", said Axel nearly whispering.   
"Thanks", she whispered and some time she fell asleep again. But Axel´s last sentence worried her. Just like in her dream. _I won´t let you go_...These words were still in her head while she was sleeping, but fortunately no bad dream appeared.   
**Thanks for reading this and please review, dudes! And honestly I nearly cried while I wrote Lioness' dream... **


	70. Alive

Alive

The next morning someone knocked at their door. Sleepy Axel sat up. There was this knock again. Quickly he jumped out of the bed and put on his clothes. Then he opened the door. Tilian stood in front of him and grinned. Axel just moaned annoyed. "That´s what I missed, being woken by you", he said tiredly and yawned. "Is something up?"

"Did you really forget it? The eldests wanna see us!", he said.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot it...what´s the time?", askd Axel.

"One hour after sunrise. Hurry up a little, I thought you wanted to know what´s with the marriage now", said Tilian. "Or did you decide to run away and let her here with her destiny? Then... I must run away, too, otherwise people will laugh at me because I share DNA with something like you."

"Okay, okay, I´m coming. I´ll just wake up Lioness. We´ll meet in ten minutes in front of the hall", said Axel. Tilian nodded in agreement and left. With a sigh Axel closed the door again. "I can´t believe he´s such a horrible bundle of nerves", he said quietly. He went over to the bed and woke Lioness with a gentle kiss. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Come on, Tilian annoyed me because the eldests want to see us", he said. Lioness nodded and quickly she got dressed. Together they went out of the room and towards the hall. On their way they met King, Hawk and Shark. Tilian stood in front of the hall and waited for them nervously. Finally as they arrived they went into the hall. Sebastian stood there with the eldests and was talking to them.

The teens bowed to the eldests. "I guess first of all you want your clone to get a life", said Grim and stood up. Axel and Tilian nodded at the same time. "Tilian, Axel´s clone, you´ve been created with black magic and to destroy everything or anyone in your way. But you came over to the good side and learned what real loyality means", said the eldest. "In the battle you proved that it was serious to you. Now you will get the life you wanted."

Tilian bowed to Grim who held his hand over Tilian´s head. He spoke a long and complicated spell. Everyone watched the scene interested. As the eldest finished he took a step backwards. "It´s done", he just said.

"Did it work?", asked Hawk curiously. He had expected light effects or smoke or something else.

"Well, there´s one way to find out..." Tilian turned around and jumped towards Axel. Surprised and shocked he jumped out of the way before the clone could kick him.

"What are you doing?!"

"Now that I´m alive I can´t die if you do. So I can kill you, like I´ve always wanted!", he replied hissing and grinned evilly.

Axel´s friends wanted to help him, but he just rose his arm. "Stand back! This is my fight!", he said. Confused his friends did what he wanted. The eldests and Sebastian just watched as if they weren´t there.

Tilian ran towards Axel and kicked him hardly. Axel blocked and ducked under another kick. As the clone punched he moved quickly sidewards so he missed. Axel didn´t attack Tilian, he just blocked the attacks. Tilian turned a somersault, landed with his hands on Axel´s shoulders and threw him against a column in the hall. Dust rose and the stone broke a little as Axel hit it.

He sank to his knees, but stood up again. "So you just played a trick on us until this moment?", asked Axel and jumped away. Tilian kicked the column hardly.

"I had to do something as I noticed Theresia would never give me a life", hissed the clone and punched Axel. He blocked the attack and turned a flik-flak backwards to avoid the next attacks. Tilian turned a flik-flak forwards to follow Axel.

"But we kept our promise!", said Axel as he grabbed Tilian´s leg after a kick. Tilian stared at him furious. He kicked Axel´s belly so that he fell onto the ground with a moan of pain.

"You just kept your promise because you thought you could change me", said Tilian and walked over to Axel. Quickly the clone took some steps sidewards and grabbed the lance of a guard next to a column. The eldests told the guard to do nothing, they wanted Tilian and Axel to fight alone. Tilian tried to hit Axel with the lance, but Axel jumped into the air, landed on the lance and turned a backflip.

"But why do you want to kill me? I saved your life!"

"You _saved _my life after you nearly killed me!"

"You killed me nearly, and I nearly killed you, this was just fair. Nevertheless I didn´t want it! I didn´t know you would kill her that way!"

Tilian laughed ironic. "I was too blind, so I thought I could help you. But then I tasted your so called _friendship_ and noticed this taste is really bad. This short moment in which I tried to save you was just in a moment I was weak. _Your_ friendship nearly killed me!"

"Wait a second and think about your own sentence!" Axel nearly shouted. "I offered you my friendship because I trusted you. And I still do now."

"You should know me better!", hissed Tilian and looked angry at Axel.

"I already know you. The last time changed you completely. Maybe _you _ think you´re weak because you show feelings. You treated us more friendly than before when you worked for Lee. You changed your opinion. Do you know why? Because _we_ treated you like one of us, we trusted you. But listen, this is nothing which weakens you. It can just make you stronger."

"You lie! I trusted you all the time after we escaped, but it weakened me that much that I couldn´t beat Theresia without getting deadly injured!", shouted Tilian and hissed furious. His whole body shook in anger while he stared hatefully at Axel.

"So you confess that you trusted me? Listen, the first time you and your team appeared we just wanted to beat you, to destroy you", began Axel. He avoided Tilians hard kick and turned a backflip.

"And you still want me out of the way! But this time it´s different, I´ll kill _you_ and I won´t let anyone stand in _my _way!" He swang the lance and nearly hit Axel who could duck just in time. Tilian moved faster than before. Now he was really furious and could hardly control his anger. His attacks grew harder, more powerful. But Axel just avoided them and didn´t attack his clone.

"No, listen!", he shouted. "Meanwhile I got to know you better, I noticed you have a real character, you have real feelings. Maybe you look different, but you´re just like us. Meanwhile I know you better than ever before and I wouldn´t try to destroy you. If I did, I would destroy...a friend of mine. Someone I would maybe miss."

"So just maybe? Give up, Manning. I will never stay on your side. You caused me too big wounds!", replied Tilian. Axel looked surprised at him.

"But look at me. I got a lot of wounds because I wanted to save my friends, because I didn´t want to betray them! Only one thing is enough to suffer som much pain, their friendship."

Tilian growled angry. "Friendship causes you too much wounds not to try to get vengeance, not to hate your so called friends for that. And I _hate_ _you _because your offered friendship nearly killed me!"

The clone swang the lance and Axel jumped backwards. The end of the lance broke on the ground and Tilian just held the wooden stick in his hands. He swang it and hit Axel´s back. He fell onto the ground but rolled on his feet again. Hardly breathing he looked deeply into the clone´s eyes. Before he could say something Tilian kicked him hardly and Axel couldn´t block this attack. He was sent against a column.

Now he was on his knees and looked up at Tilian who stood over him. "Okay, then kill me, if you want." Axel looked seriously at Tilian. "But before you do think a little. You just told me of the negative times. I helped you to realize Theresia wanted to kill you. I could have fought you in the castle, but I didn´t."

"Because you´ve been too weak", hissed Tilian angry.

"Yeah, because I´ve been to weak _and_ because I wanted to help you. Remember our escape? You were hit but I risked my own life to rescue you. I carried you two whole days through this desert, through the tunnels to the elves, the only ones who were able to help you. I tried everything to help you, to make sure you were alive."

Tilian´s hand, in which he held the lance, shook hardly. He stared at Axel with a hateful face. Axel breathed hardly and tried to convince Tilian of stopping to try to kill him. It seemed to work.

"I took care of you. Do you know why? You´re my friend", finished Axel.

"If you´re really me, then you know I would have never tried to kill you after what happened in the last time." He slowly stood up. Tilian watched his movements with a still emotionless face.

"No, I´m not you. I´m someone completely different", growled the clone.

"Right, now you understood. And this is one reason why I wouldn´t kill you. Meanwhile you aren´t me anymore. You are someone unique, you have a life. But you should know I would never try to kill you now."

Tilian looked hateful at Axel. Then his grip around the wooden stick went stronger. He growled a little, but let the lance fall to the ground. His muscles which had been strained hardly over the whole time relaxed a little now. He closed his eyes for a moment and grinded his teeth. There was silence in the room.

"Do you know what your problem is?", asked Tilian and looked at Axel.

"I know, I´m taking too much care of other people", he replied.

"No, you´re taking too much care of _me_...", corrected Tilian and smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"No problem, Tilly", said Axel and smiled, too.

"Do you know what would be very nice?", asked Tilian growling. "If you never called me like this again."

Axel smiled. "Well...okay." Axel breathed in deeply while trying to calm his heavy heartbeat down. This had been a hard fight, and convincing Tilian had been very difficult. Then he turned to the eldests and looked at Grim. "Did you know he wouldn´t kill me?"

Grim nodded. "Even the evil can turn good."

"Just like Ying and Yang. Black and white, completely opposites of each other. But did you notice the small black point in the white half and the small white point in the black half? Black is for the evil, white is for everything that´s good. Even though they are opposites they have small parts of the other side. So everyone who´s evil has something good in his soul. And sometimes this good part and grow and defeat the evil", said Sebastian. "Of course we knew he wouldn´t kill you. Otherwise I would have helped you latest as he was about to kill you."

"By the way...what´s with the marriage?", asked Lioness interrupting and came over to them. She looked hopefully at Elian. The old man tried to stand up, but failed. He sighed and decided to sit.

"I found a way to avoid the marriage", he began slowly with a serious face. Lioness´ face lit up. And Axel´s too. "The one you want to marry must fight against your, for you chosen, future husband. In this case the dragon warrior must fight against Jing. If the dragon warrior wins, you´re allowed to marry him. If he loses he must leave this place forever and you, Catalina, must marry Jing. You can´t choose the death then."

"What the point is, you can choose the death _now_ or you choose the fight and go without your right of the death", summarised Grim. "Choose."

Everyone looked at Lioness. She bit her lower lip and looked at Axel. He looked at her and smiled weakly. He would understand each of her choices. Then he just nodded and Lioness understood.

"I´ll choose the fight", she said seriously. _And no matter what will happen...I know he understands this and will try to fight for us_, she thought.

**Please review! I hope you liked it so far! )**


	71. Training

Training

At the late evening the teens went back into their rooms. The whole day they had talked to the eldests and had gotten the explanations of the rules for the fight between Axel and Jing. Now the sun had setted and it was night. Stars were at the sky and the full moon shined brightly.

Axel walked over to the window and opened it. He stared at the sky and breathed in the cold air of the night. He closed his eyes to enjoy the peace and silence of the night. The next day he would fight against Jing. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Lioness, she leaned her head on his shoulder and followed his look. "Are you nervous?", she asked.

Axel shook his head. "I don´t know how to feel", he replied. Then there was silence again. No one said a word. Suddenly Axel took Lioness´ hand which was still on his shoulder and turned to her.

"I´ll go now. Don´t wait for me, I´ll come back in the morning", he said and wanted to leave.

"But where do you want to go?", she asked confused as he let her hand go.

"I´ll come back before the sun rises", he replied shortly and looked into the wardrobe. He took something out of it and ran quickly through the door. Lioness just looked after him confused and shrugged her shoulders.

Axel ran down the corridor. In his hands he held his Jo-Lan uniform. He went out of the treehouse and through the city. In the forest at the end of the valley he tried to find a way through the close standing trees and bushes. Finally he reached what he had searched. He went through a hole in a wall of stone. As he reached the end of the small tunnel he found himself in a large cave.

In the ceiling was a wide hole and the light of the moon came through it. Some plants were in the cave and in the middle of the cave was a round place. There was sand. Around the round place were some stones which marked the border of the circle. Some small plants grew around the circle and lianas hung into the cave through the hole in the ceiling.

Axel lit the torches around the circle. There were four of them, each one hung on a column on which the ceiling was based on. The torches spent enough light. Axel took a deep breath in. Then he put off his clothes and put on his Jo-Lan uniform. He wanted to train here. Slowly he went into the round area of sand. He closed his eyes and began with slowly movements to strengthen his concentration and spirit power.

After some time he opened his eyes again. He imagined an invisible enemy and attacked him. With a kick he attacked, then he punched and ducked quickly. Sand rose into the air as he turned a backflip and whirled around to kick again. He jumped, kicked and landed on the ground again. For some seconds he caught his breath and stayed in the position in which he was at the moment. He crouched on the ground and was ready for the next kick.

Axel closed his eyes and listened. He just heard his fast and heavy breath. His heart hammered against his chest and he felt each muscle of his body was working while he moved. Without any movement he still crouched on the ground. Suddenly he jumped into the air, whirled around and kicked. Surprised he stopped as he noticed someone blocked this kick.

"So you found this place", said Sebastian. "Since when do you know it?"

"Shortly after we arrived here. But I had no chance to train here because I was kidnapped", replied Axel.

"Don´t you think you´re training too hard with your wounds?"

"Those wounds", said Axel,"are just on my outside. They aren´t aching when I concentrate on the fight." Sebastian just nodded. He looked at Axel quietly. Then he suddenly started smiling.

"It´s funny to see you in this uniform. It´s like to look at a younger mirror image", he said smiling. "But this place is good to train. You chose it very well. In the time when I lived here in Rétaran I trained every day here. This place has something peaceful which strengthens your spirit power better than in every other place. And I guess this is the reason why you´re here, isn´t it?"

"Yes", replied Axel. "You´ve been here before?"

"Just for half a year. Not a long time maybe, but long enough to learn a lot about elves", replied Sebastian. "Are you here to talk or to train?"

Only now Axel noticed his father wore his Jo-Lan uniform, too. As if he had known Axel would come here. Axel took a step backwards and went into fighting position. Sebastian attacked him very quickly. Axel blocked the kick hardly and concentrated. The next punch of his father was connected to a Jo-Lan energy wave. Not a very big one, but big enough to make Axel fall some steps backwards.

"Elves are very fast. They fight with a martial art which is very similar to our Jo-Lan. They can´t use energy waves, but they can move that fast that they are able to avoid the energy waves. Always remember that", said Sebastian and kicked.

Axel blocked easily. He blocked a punch, grabbed Sebastian´s arm and kicked his legs away. His father fell into the sand. "You´re getting old", smirked Axel and went into fighting position again.

"Don´t be too proud of yourself, this makes you blind for attacks which could come out of nowhere", said Sebastian. He quickly stood up again, slided through Axel´s legs, stood up behind him and kicked his back. Axel was too surprised and flew against a column.

"And it´s not the problem that I´m too old...you´re too young", he smirked. Axel stood up again. He jumped into the air and whirled around to kick his father three times very hardly. Sebastian blocked and jumped as Axel went to the ground to kick his legs. Dust rose as he landed on the ground again and rolled into Axel´s back. Quickly Axel turned around and could duck under a punch.

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Meanwhile Lioness went through the forest. She had seen Axel going into this forest and followed his tracks now. As she heard a sound behind her she quickly went to a tree and hid in its shadow. She waited until she could see a shadow standing there where she had been. Suddenly she jumped towards the shadow, pushed him to the ground and knelt over him, her fist ready to punch.

Lioness stopped as she noticed who laid under her. "Nice way to say hello", said Tilian ironic and looked at her. Lioness stood up again. "Sorry", she said and gave him her hand to pull him up again. "No matter."

"Why are you here?", asked Lioness confused. Tilian looked at her and wiped the dust away from his clothes.

"I wanted to warn you. Jing knows about that fight tomorrow and wanted to drug Axel. He wants to win this way. I saw how he poured a liquid into a bottle of water. Then he brought it into your room and placed it next to Axel´s bed."

"Really? How could you see this without being seen?", she asked surprised and shocked.

Tilian cleared his throat and grinned. "I´m part a chameleon, too", he said proudly. "And if I want I can be a shadow."

Lioness smiled. "Being a reptile seems to be very useful", she smirked.

"Well, I saw him running into this forest, and then I saw you following him. I wanted to warn you before it was too late." "Let´s tell him", said Lioness and together they followed Axel´s tracks. Then they heard a cracking twig next to them and hid behind a tree next to the small path. There was another shadow on the path. Lioness nodded at Tilian. He understood. At the same moment they attacked the shadow and pressed him to the ground.

"Wow, guys, calm down!", said Hawk and Lioness and Tilian let him go. He stood up again and checked his hair. "Whow, Li, does Axel know you´re dating his clone?", asked Hawk as he recognized the two had attacked him.

"_HAWK_! I´m not dating him! We´re in search of Axel!", yelled Lioness. She had blushed a little while Tilian stood calmly next to her and crossed his arms in front of his chest, rolling his eyes. "By the way, why are _you _here?"

"I saw _him _following you into the forest, so I thought he would try to kill you...", said Hawk. "I still don´t trust him." Even though Tilian stood next to him Hawk didn´t spoke to him. He just spoke with Lioness. "I saw him coming out of your room and thought something was wrong."

"You can think?", asked Lioness ironic. "No one followed you?"

"Not that I know", replied Hawk.

She sighed. "Let´s go." They continued following the tracks. Then there was a sound again. Cracking twigs behind the three. They hid behind a tree again and waited. And waited. There were two shadows on the path. At the same time the three attacked the two shadows. But surprised they let them go again as they noticed who they had pushed to the ground.

"Dudes, shake the sand outta your shorts! We´re just here to help you", said Shark and stood up. King did, too.

"To help us? Why?", asked Hawk.

"We thought something was wrong because everyone ran into this damn forest", said King and looked around.

"We´re just in search of Axel", replied Lioness another time. Some moments later the five followed the tracks again. After some time they found a hole in a wall and saw that there was light in the cave. They tried to look in.

"I can´t see anything...but in the ceiling is a hole, we can look through it", suggested Tilian. Quietly they climbed the wall until they were on top of the small mountain. The top was flat and they could look through the hole in the middle of it. They saw Axel and Sebastian fighting in the middle of a round place filled with sand. Interested they watched the fight. Sometimes Axel could hit his father, sometimes Axel was sent to the ground. No one was better than the other one.

"Cool, our dude is really good", whispered Shark.

Suddenly Hawk slipped on the wet stone. He grabbed someone´s shirt and pulled this someone with him. This someone grabbed another one´s hand and the five fell through the hole.

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Axel and Sebastian stopped surprised as five shadows fell through the hole in the ceiling. Dust rose. As it was gone they saw Lioness, King, Shark, Hawk and Tilian lying on each other. "Ehm...hi?", said Shark and grinned embarassed.

"Is there a special reason why you´re lying there?", asked Axel. His breath was still fast, sweat was on his forehead. Sebastian was completely calm, even after fighting with his son.

"Err...we wanted to watch you", said Hawk. Quickly they stood up. Axel frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He looked at his friends.

"Okay. Tilian wanted to tell you something", said Lioness. Axel´s look went over to Tilian.

"Jing put something into your water. Do you know the bottle next to your bed? There´s always fresh drinking water, very useful those elves, they put fresh water into it every morning...well, the point is that he poured something into it. And believe me, the water doesn´t smell good", said the clone.

"So we think he wanted to drug you because of the fight", added Lioness.

Axel´s muscles strained and angry he still looked at Tilian. "I´ll kill this guy...", he just mumbered through his teeth. Sebastian placed his hand on Axel´s shoulder. "Stay calm. You will beat him tomorrow. Just fight like you did this night and you have a great chance to win."

**The end is coming nearer...and nearer...and I´m expecting reviews! ; )**


	72. The last fight

The last Fight

The next morning every elf came to the fighting arena. Interested and nervously they sat on their places around a large and round place of soil and sand. There was an extra large stand for the eldests. The five eldests sat on their places, next to them sat King, Shark and Hawk, Lioness, Sebastian and Tilian. They waited for the fighters to come into the arena.

Axel came in and went to the middle of the place. He turned to the eldests and bowed to them. His face was emotionless and serious. Jing came in, too. He stopped next to Axel and bowed tot he eldests, just like Axel had done before him. Axel wore his Jo-Lan uniform, around his waist was a leathern belt with a sword. Jing wore a red uniform with golden and yellow lines and ornaments, he wore a belt with a sword, too.

Grim stood up. He rose his arms and spoke to the fighters. "You two know the rules. The one who wins marries Catalina Leone, the other one must leave this place forever. He´s not allowed to come back, otherwise he´ll die. Are you ready? You fight as long as you can, until one of you is in a situation from that he can´t escape without being killed. For example if the dragon warrior holds his sword on Jing´s throat Jing loses because he can´t continue fighting. Do you accept this rules?"

Both warriors nodded. They bowed again to the eldests. Lioness bent over to Sebastian. "He seems to be very nervous", she whispered. Sebastian looked surprised at her. "What did you expect? Happyness? If he loses this fight he loses everything in his life", he replied. Lioness said nothing. Her throat was dry and she swallowed shortly. Her heart beat fast and she had a strange feeling in her belly. She hoped he would win.

The elf went into fighting position and pulled his sword out of its scabbard. Axel did the same. With hateful looks they looked at each other. "Don´t expect any mercy, weak human", said Jing.

"I just wanted to tell you the same, _elf_", replied Axel. He spoke the last word extra loud. "The best one will win", he added.

"And this will be me", said Jing. His sword gleamed in the light of the sun. "And your pretty costume won´t change that."

"Funny to hear this out of your mouth", replied the dragon warrior and grinned. But in his inside Axel felt a strange feeling. A feeling which told him he shouldn´t expect too much. This day could be the greatest day ever, or the worst day ever. It was his choice to do with the day what he wanted. Losing the fight and Lioness, or winning the fight and the marriage. And a disappointed face of Jing as an extra price.

"Are you ready?", asked Grim loudly. The two nodded. "Start the fight!"

After Grim had finished his sentence Jing attacked Axel very fast. He swang his sword with an unnatural power and speed so that Axel´s arm ached as he blocked the attack. _Concentrate, you have too much to lose to be weak_, he thought and tried to kick Jing. The elf ducked very fast, then he rammed his sword into the ground. Axel looked confused at him.

"So you want to fight on the old-fashioned way", smirked the elf. Axel rammed his sword into the ground to and went into fighting position. Jing attacked him first, jumped into the air, kicked three times and missed because Axel ducked just in time. Then Jing went to the ground and tried to kick Axel´s legs, but he jumped and started a kick. Jing blocked easily and grinned.

Axel tried to punch the elf. He just moved a little sidewards and Axel missed. Jing grabbed his arm, pulled him towards his body and kicked his legs away so that he fell onto the ground. But Axel rolled onto his feet again. He ran towards the elf, went to the ground and slided through his legs. As fast as he could he stood up again and tried to kick Jing´s back. He had learned this move from his father.

But Jing just ducked, didn´t turn around. He placed his hands on the ground and rose his legs into the air. He whirled around and kicked Axel some times. Axel blocked hardly and took some steps backwards.

"Is that all you got?", asked the elf smirking as he blocked Axel´s punch.

"I´m just warming up", replied Axel angry.

"Then I´ll help you!" Jing jumped and landed with his hands on Axel´s shoulders. He used his own weight to throw Axel away. Hardly the dragon warrior landed on the ground. He didn´t stand up. Jing smirked triumphatically and took his sword. He wanted to sting it into Axel´s chest, but Axel rolled away and kicked the elf´s legs. He dropped his sword and fell surprised to the ground.

Axel tried to take the sword, but Jing jumped onto his back and pressed him to the ground. Then he pulled a skean out of his belt. Axel rammed his elbow into Jing´s side so that he winced in pain. This short moment was used and Axel rolled on his back. Jing fell of his back and Axel had enough time to turn a flik-flak backwards. In the end he stood in fighting position again.

His breath was unregular and heavy. He sweated and the heat of the sun was terrible. But he had to continue. Axel closed his eyes for a second and concentrated on the fight. Then he opened his eyes again to see Jing running towards him. Axel turned a backflip to avoid a kick, his legs collapsed as he landed on the ground again. Slowly he stood up again.

Lioness watched the fight. She couldn´t breath and her hands were wet of nervousity. She bit her lower lip and followed each of Axel´s movements concentrated, as if she would fight on her own. In her mind she thought what he would do next and hoped he could beat Jing.

Jing kicked Axel hardly and he fell onto the ground with a short scream. Blood came out of the corner of his mouth. He wiped the blood away and stood up again. Desperation went like a poison through his body, slowly, but surely. He didn´t know any way to beat this guy. Sweat was on his forehead. He closed his eyes. His breath was heavy and uncalm, his heart hammered against his chest.

In the next moment he blocked hardly a kick of Jing, ducked under a punch. The next punch hit him and Axel was sent against the wall of the arena. He fell onto his knees, blood came out of his nose and fell silently onto the ground. His whole body shook and ached. He forced his muscles to work, to remember the training, not to give up. Quickly he stood up again.

Axel ran towards Jing. Shortly in front of the elf he used his Jo-Lan energy wave. But Jing easily jumped away and Axel hit nothing. Sebastian´s hands formed fists. "I told him not to do this! He knows that it is useless!", he mumbered. Lioness looked at Sebastian for a moment. "But he´s tired and weak, elves can fight longer than we can. They´re stronger. He has no chance if he doesn´t concentrate", she said.

Jing turned a somersault and kicked Axel´s back. He fell onto the ground and tried to stand up again. But Jing placed his foot on his back and pressed him to the ground. Then he took the swords which were very close to them in the ground. He pulled them out of the ground, the blades gleamed dangerously in the sunlight. Jing turned Axel onto his back so that he could look into his face.

Then he crossed the swords in front of Axel´s throat. Axel felt the cold metal on the left and on the right side of his neck and didn´t try to move. One movement and Jing would kill him. Hardly breathing he laid there, Jing stood over him and held the swords on his throat. Axel closed his eyes. _I´ve lost...I´ve lost everything..._

Lioness watched this shocked. "Please...do something...", she whispered and hoped Axel could hear her. Grim stood up and rose his arms.

"The dragon warrior lost this fight, Jing is the winner!", he yelled through the arena. The audience cheered loudly. Lioness stood up and ran into the arena. But some guards held her back. "Axel!", she yelled, but he couldn´t hear her because the elves cheered too loud.

"Axel Manning, as much as I hate to say this, but you must leave this place now. When you come home you´ll find your possessions there. Thanks for your help in our fight, but please leave now or...we must kill you." Grim looked sadly at Axel. "Our rules say so."

Jing let Axel go and rammed his sword into the ground. Jing smirked happily. Axel just stood up and looked hatefully at Jing. Then he took his sword and turned to leave the arena. Lioness could pass the guards and ran towards him now. "Axel! Wait!", she yelled. He didn´t stop and walked slowly out of the arena. Before he could leave she stopped him and looked into his face. He just stared at her with empty eyes.

"Wait! We could try to..."

"Li..."

"...escape together, no one will find us and then we..."

"Lioness..."

"...can find a new home and live together like we´ve always-"

"Catalina!" He yelled at her with a shaking voice. Lioness shut up at once. Even the audience in the arena stopped cheering and tried to hear their conversation. Lioness was very shocked. Sometimes he called her _Cat_ when he was serious. But _Catalina_? It had to be very serious to him that he used her full name. Axel took her shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I lost this fight, I lost you. I was too weak to fight for our future life, so...I deserved nothing else as this. I didn´t deserve your love, I was too weak to defend it... You´ve waisted your love... on me. Please promise me you´ll give it to the man who deserved it. Please, promise that", he said quietly.

Lioness looked shocked into his face. "But you mustn´t leave...I need you", she said with a shaking voice. Tears came into her eyes. "I don´t wanna lose you", she whispered. She wanted to hug him one last time, but he just pushed her gently away.

"No, Cat. It´s over", he said with a shaking voice. He felt tears coming into his eyes. He didn´t want to cry. "Everything is over now", he repeated whispering. "From now on...we must go separated ways."

"But...I love you", she whispered and tears started running down her cheeks. She looked deeply into his eyes which filled with tears, too.

"No matter what I´m doing, where I´m going. Just promise me you´ll stay alive and live the life with Jing. That´s all I want, that you´re alive. Your life is more important than mine. Go now, I´ll leave you forever", he said quietly with tears running down his face.

"No...", she said. Then she suddenly hugged him tightly. She buried her face in his chest. But Axel pushed her gently away. "Go now and keep your promise, please. Good bye", he just said and continued walking. Lioness looked after him with tears in her eyes. "Axel!", she shouted with a shaking voice. He stopped, but didn´t turn around.

"You mustn´t leave...I need you", she said quietly.

"You don´t need someone who couldn´t fight for your love", he replied and wanted to go.

"Really? But I need someone who already won my heart", she said. He stopped again. Slowly he got angry. Angry because she cared that much about him. And because she didn´t want to let him go. Even though everything was over now. But he wanted to let her go, he wanted her to live a normal life. His hands formed fists, his aching muscles shook a little because of the anger.

"Stop talking like this! You know I _must_ go now! So why don´t you want to let it be like it´s now?!", he shouted angry and turned around. She looked shocked into his red face which was full of tears. "Isn´t it enough that I can´t be with you?! Why do you have to make everything worse?!", he asked and tears ran down his face. Lioness swallowed and walked slowly towards him.

"It´s over!", he shouted as she came to him. "It´s over, everything is over! The last months, the last year had no sense. No meaning. Everything is over. Our tears, blood we shed and our love was worthless. _Go away_!"

Lioness stood in front of him. Suddenly she slapped his face angry. Surprised and shocked he looked at her, but said nothing. "How dare you say that?!", she nearly shouted while crying. Her face was red because of the tears and anger. "It wasn´t worthless...it meant everything to me", she whispered quietly and now she stroke his cheek she had slapped before.

"I´ll come with you", she said. Axel shook his head and pushed her hand slowly away. He took a step backwards and smiled weakly at her. She knew it was a faked smile. She had never seen him so sad before. Never. His face was red and full of tears which fell quietly on the ground. Blood came out of the corner of his mouth and he had some scratches in his face. It was not the first time she saw him crying, but the first time that he cried because of _her_.

"No, stay here. Promise me you will stay here", he said. He turned around to go. But he stopped again as Lioness cried his name. She came towards him. Axel turned around and looked angry at her.

"I said you shall stay here! It has no sense if you follow me!" He nearly shouted and his voice shook hardly.

"But-"

"No but!" Axel pulled his sword out of his scabbard and pointed with the blade at Lioness. Lioness looked shocked at him. "If you follow me...I´ll kill me", he said seriously and turned the blade so that it nearly touched his throat. Lioness didn´t move.

"Don´t do this! You don´t know what you´re doing..."

"Oh, I know very well what I´m doing. But you don´t! Stay here if you want me to stay alive. That´s all I want you to do", he said and rose the blade as she moved a little. At once she stopped. After a long moment of silence he spoke up again.

"It´s serious to me, Catalina. I have nothing to lose, everything is gone. My life has no sense, I could kill me easily. But if you wish I won´t do it." His voice was very quietly, but shook hardly while tears ran down his face. Lioness was impressed. Axel knew she loved him so much that she would do everything not to hurt him. So he saw just this solution to make her not follow him.

"Please don´t do it." Her voice was not more than a whisper. As Lioness didn´t move and looked at him sadly he put his sword back into the scabbard. He bowed to her.

"It was nice to know you, Catalina Leone. I will never forget you. Good bye." Meanwhile he got control over his voice again, he sounded quietly and serious. One last time he looked deeply into her eyes, then he turned around and walked away.

With tears in her whole face she stared at him while leaving and watched as his shadow disappeared in the green of the bushes in Rétaran. Slowly she sank to her knees and cried quietly while she stared at him and saw him leaving.

**Maybe it´s embarassing to say that, but I really cried while writing this part of the chapter... No joke, dudes! I really cried...And I hope you can feel the same effect, too. Please review! **


	73. Surprising Change

Surprising Change

Lioness turned around to see the eldests slowly coming towards her. Her friends, Tilian and Sebastian followed. "You mustn´t let him go!", she cried furiously while tears ran down her face.

"But so say our rules. He must-"

"I spit on your silly rules! I´ll do everything in my power not to marry this loser of an elf!", she shouted interrupting. Quickly Sebastian pressed his hand on her mouth so that she couldn´t say anything.

"You should better shut up, or the eldests won´t change their mind", he whispered. Lioness nodded and closed her eyes as he let her go. Tears ran down her cheeks and fell silently to the ground. "Grim, isn´t there any other way? Really?", asked Sebastian hopefully instead of Lioness.

Elian spoke up. "There could be one last way...", he began slowly. "If she can prove that he´s her only and true love she needn´t marry Jing. But this case doesn´t happen very often, it stood very small on the last page of the book, so I forgot to tell you."

Lioness got angry. Why didn´t he speak earlier of this? But how could she prove Axel was her real love? She thought of any way...Until Shark got the idea. "Dudes, what was after the first battle? You did some magic and he came alive again", he said. Lioness understood. She could have kissed Shark for this idea!

"Yes, that´s right! Grim, you know this spell which you can only use on your true love if this someone died by black magic...don´t you?", said Sebastian.

Grim nodded slowly. "And you saw how she used the spell on him?", he asked distrustful.

"Not only I saw it. Nearly every rebel at the castle has seen them. They can all tell you the same. He was surely dead with the thorn in his chest, but the thorn suddenly disappeared after she had used the spell."

Grim sighed. "Then..." He turned to the other eldests and discussed something with them. He turned to the teens again and sighed. "We discussed everything. That he´s your real love changes everything, so the fight does not count. You _must_ marry the dragon warrior and no one else."

Lioness fell around the eldest´s neck and hugged him. "Thanks, thanks, thanks!" Then she let him go and turned around to look for Axel. "Come on, guys! We have to find him!", she shouted happily and waited for her friends to come. Sebastian stood there with the eldests and watched the teens running into the forest. He just shook smiling his head.

"You could have told us earlier about it", he said to Elian. The eldest just shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes I´m confused, and sometimes it´s funny to confuse other people...but this was not planned, really."

Tilian rolled his eyes. _One of the reasons why I hate elves..._, he thought and just smiled innocent as the eldest looked at him.

"Li, wait!", yelled King. Lioness ran as fast as she could and followed Axel´s tracks. She didn´t notice the bushes she ran through or that she sometimes nearly fell over roots in the way. She left her friends behind. Then a shadow appeared on the path. She came closer to him and saw it was a man in a Jo-Lan uniform who slowly walked his way.

"Axel! Wait!", she yelled, but Axel didn´t stop. She ran faster, but fell over a root and grabbed his uniform not to fall down. He fell with her and Lioness landed on him. Seriously he looked into her face. "Cat, I told you-"

She broke his sentence with a kiss. He just stared confused at her and let it happen. As she broke the kiss he noticed the smile on her face. "What had happened?", he asked confused and wiped the tears with his arm out of his face. It was still red and his eyes were, too.

"That you died wasn´t worthless", she replied. Axel looked even more confused. "The spell I used to bring you back to life...It proves that you´re my real love, so I´m allowed to marry you!"

"You´re joking me, aren´t you?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"What? Yes or no?"

"Idiot!", she said laughing and kissed him again. This time he deepened the kiss and closed his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her. Happily he broke the kiss and stood up again.

"Then we can go home together...as a team", he smiled. His friends nodded. "Aye, sir!", they said together and salutated like soldiers in front of their commander.

The rest of the day they prepared everything for their journey home. And even though Axel had lost the fight he had one a very unique price: Jing´s hateful look. Axel had to smile when he saw the face of the elf. And he was happy to leave again. The teens and Sebastian wanted to go back to the castle the next morning. In the late afternoon, when the sun was about to set Axel decided to go for a walk in the forests.

They were even larger than the forests he knew. And there were more different plants, too. Slowly he walked through the forests as he suddenly saw someone on the path. He came towards him. It was Tilian who wanted to walk back to the Hall of the Eldests. "What are you doing here?", asked Axel. "Looking for something to eat?" He looked at the flies which flew through the air in small circles.

"Very funny", replied the clone and poked out his tongue. "Tell me how you wanna catch flies with a forked snake-tongue." Seriously he looked at Axel. But Axel just started laughing. Tilian smiled slightly.

"Nevertheless, why are_ you _here?"

"I just needed some fresh air...Lioness is talking about our wedding plans the whole time, my dad wants me to visit some other places here because of the _spirit power_ and the guys split up to have a last look at Rétaran. I just wanted to escape for some moments. By the way, what are you going to do when we´re back at the castle?"

"I...", began Tilian and thought for a moment. "I think I´ll try to find my own way. Reptiles mostly live alone."

"But you are no reptile, you´re part a human, too."

"Maybe", smirked the clone. "But I hate crowds of people."

"Do you know any place to go?"

"No, I have no idea yet. Maybe I´ll travel around the whole world, maybe I´ll stay here. I dunno yet."

"You can stay with us, if you want", suggested Axel. "We have a house which is big enough..."

"Come on, you´re joking!", laughed Tilian. "Never! Staying with you amorous turtle doves?!" He still laughed. "No, I´ll stay just until your wedding, no day longer."

"You wanna stay until our wedding?", asked Axel unbelieveable.

"Yeah, I so want to see you full of nervosity and stuttering some words!"

"Na, thanks", replied Axel sarcastic.

"And now? The fairytailness is nearly over, after your wedding you´ll have a normal life again", said Tilian after a while. They slowly walked back to the treehouse with the hall. "No enemies to beat, nothing to do. A boring life like everyone else has."

"Oh, you know me too bad to say that I´ll have a boring life", smirked Axel.

Early at the next morning the five teens, Sebastian and Axel´s clone were ready to leave. They said good bye to the eldests and left Rétaran. Axel swore himself never to come back. He was afraid Jing would be still mad at him. As the group came out of the tunnels they found seven white horses standing in front of the tunnel. There were elfin letters on the saddles.

"The elves are really nice", said King smirking.

"This is their way to say thanks", explained Sebastian.

They sat on the horses and rode back home. "Dudes, have you thought of any jobs when we´re back?", asked Shark after an hour. The mood sank at once. None had any idea.

"I don´t need a job, I´ll leave and do nothing", said Tilian. "I can take care of my own. But what about you?"

"Where do you want to go? And what do you want to do?", asked King the clone.

"Finding a cute gecko-girl to live with", joked Hawk and gave Shark a high five. But for that he got a hateful look of Tilian. "You´re flying very high, birdy", he hissed.

"Sorry...", said Hawk a little frightened. Tilian rode next to him and patted Hawk on his left shoulder. "No matter", he just grinned and rode a little faster to ride next to King and Axel. Suddenly Hawk began to scream. They all turned around, Hawk held his left arm.

"I can´t move my arm!", he screamed frightened while the paralyzing venom on his shoulder turned hard and made Hawk unable to move it. At once everyone´s eyes looked at Tilian.

"Couldn´t use it for a longer time...moreover I warned him...", he just said and looked innocent away. Everyone began to laugh because Hawk was in panic. "Stay calm, you can move your arm in less than ten minutes again, you idiot", hissed Tilian annoyed of Hawk´s screams.

"You say this so easy! I can´t feel my whole arm!"

"First of all, it´s just your shoulder you can´t move. And the dose was that small that you don´t need to scream."

"Back to topic, guys, no idea of jobs?", asked Axel and ignored Hawk who was talking in panic to himself as he tried to calm down.

"Maybe as a horse trainer", suggested King. He really loved animals and this would be a great idea. "As long as I can live in the castle everything is okay. What about you?" He looked at his friends.

"Believe me, guys, I´ll become a very famous actor!", said Hawk proudly. Meanwhile his arm hung moveless on his shoulder.

"You? An actor?" Shark couldn´t imagine that. "Well, then I´ll be...the first free-style surfer in Landmark!", he smirked. "And I could open a surfing school for little dudes who wanna learn it."

Half of the journey they talked about their wishes for their jobs. But somehow they knew they wouldn´t become true. "But guys, to call you back to reality", said Hawk after a while. "I think we´ll all end as farmers..."

"You might be right", said Axel and sighed. He looked at Lioness. "But at least we´re together again", he smiled. Lioness smiled back.

**Please review, guys, the story is coming to its end and I wanna have some reviews! ; ) Yep, I know this chapter had NO action, nothing at all, but I hope you like the next one...**


	74. The last one

The last One

After two days of riding they arrived at the castle. Glad to be back home Axel took his and Lioness´ horse into a small building next to their house; the stabling. Not a very big one, but enough for two horses. While the rest of the team went back into the castle and Sebastian went to the council of rebel leaders Axel, Lioness and Tilian went into the new house.

"Amazing what you could build in some weeks", said the clone. "Here is so many furniture, I can´t even see the ground!" The irony in his voice was obviously. The whole house was empty, nothing exept the fireplace was in the room.

"Sorry for that, but we couldn´t furnish it because _someone special_ scared the elves", said Axel and spoke the last part of his sentence extra loudly. He looked at Tilian while he said this. Tilian himself looked innocent away. He went around in the groundfloor which was just one single room.

"Hey, this _special someone_ saved your life!", he said and climbed the ladder to look at the second floor under the roof.

"After bringing it into danger", added Axel.

In the next few days none had time to rest. Lioness and Axel were so busy with furnishing the house. They finally wanted to sleep there, so they asked their friends to help carrying everything into the house. Luckily they had a carriage which made everything easier. Four days later the house was completed, the furniture was in it and everyone could finally rest. Axel and Lioness were happy to have their own house now, even though they shared it for some time with Tilian.

Axel and Lioness married some months later. It was a sunny day and a lot of people came. Lioness´ family, for example, the eldests of the elves even came. The rebel leaders, under them Dresan and Thomas, wanted the two to marry in the chapel of the castle. And so people were busy with decorating everything and preparing everything and everyone for the wedding.

Axel wasn´t allowed to see Lioness before the wedding. People said it would bring unluck or something in that way. While everyone went to the chapel he stayed in his room and walked up and down. King, Shark and Hawk were in the room, too, and tried to calm him down. Axel was very nervous, he walked up and down the whole time and mumbered something his friends couldn´t understand.

"Dude, stay calm and sit down!", said Shark.

"He´s right, you make us nervous, too", said King in agreement.

"Sorry, but..." Axel couldn´t sit.

"But what?"

"What if something won´t work, if I fall over my own feet and on the ground, or if I´m saying something wrong, or if something happens, or-"

"Okay, we understood!", cut Hawk his sentence. "Nevertheless, try to stay calm. Nothing will happen."

"Sure? I mean what if-"

"Duuude!", interrupted Shark. "You´re starting again!"

"Oh, sorry..." Axel went over to a window and looked out of it. There were so many people out there, just to see his wedding. He sighed and closed his eyes. Behind him he heard his friends standing up.

"We leave you alone now", said King. "See you in the chapel!" Then they left. But Axel felt someone was still in the room. He saw the mirror image of someone in the window. Axel turned around and saw Tilian grinning at him. Before he could say something, the clone cut him off.

"Wait, don´t say anything. I just wanted to ask you one thing: Is it right what you´re doing here?", he asked grinning and crossed his arms in front of his chest as he leaned against the door frame.

"Err...yes...well, not really...no, I mean...actually...yes", replied Axel stuttering. "Why are you asking?"

"I just wanted to hear _you_ stuttering like a nervous idiot."

"Thanks."

"No prob. By the way, I´m leaving in the evening."

"Where do you want to go?", asked Axel and tried to forget his nervousity.

Tilian shrugged his shoulders. "Somewhere far, far...very far away from _you_", he smirked.

"So no real destination?"

"No, not really."

Axel just smirked. He could manage to forget his nervosity for some moments.

"I don´t know yet. By the way...don´t you have a date with your girlfriend? It´s very late."

Axel looked out of the window. Everyone went into the chapel now. Quickly he headed for the door. Tilian took a step sidewards to let Axel pass. "Do not run in the corridors!", yelled the clone as Axel ran out of the door and down the long corridor. He nearly fell over his own feet. "I´ll remember that when I have more time!", replied Axel quickly and turned around a corner.

Everyone was in the chapel as Axel came through the door. Breathless he tried to calm his heartbeat down and walked slowly towards the altar where Lioness stood already. She wore a long and white dress, her hair was tied up. As Axel finally reached the altar he stopped next to her. The priest began to read something out of a book, but Axel didn´t listen. Lioness leaned a little towards him.

"Where have you been?", she asked whispering so the others couldn´t hear her.

"Just had a small talk with my clone", replied Axel quietly. "Sorry that I´m too late."

"No matter, you arrived just in time", she said. Meanwhile the priest came to the part where he asked the two to say yes. He asked Lioness and she said yes, then he asked Axel. "Axel Manning, do you want..." Axel´s thoughts went away. Was it right what he did here? _I mean we´re together since a very long time, so why not? We love each other...but why does it feel so strange? This nervousity is horrible..._

Lioness rammed her elbow into his side. He came out of his thoughts and looked at her. Only now he noticed everyone stared at him. "Err...what was the question?", he asked and smirked embarassed.

The priest looked surprised. "Do you want to marry her?", he repeated shortly. Axel nodded.

"Yes, I want."

"So you can kiss her now."

Axel pulled Lioness into a long kiss and everyone in the chapel cheered. She broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. "And none will ever separate us", she said smiling. He smiled back. "Everyone who is trying will fail", he said.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Until evening they celebrated the marriage. A lot of people danced to the music, they ate and drank a lot and talked to each other. As the sun setted the feast continued. Axel leaned against a wall and watched everything. Some time later he walked out of the feast hall to get some fresh air when he saw a shadow walking out of the castle. He followed him.

In front of the gate he found Tilian who looked into the west, where the sun setted.

"I missed you in the chapel", said Axel shortly as he came over to his clone. Tilian just grinned slightly but didn´t turn to Axel.

"I hate weddings and crowds of people", replied the clone. Axel smirked.

"You really wanna leave us?", he asked after some time. Tilian just nodded. "This is your world, not mine. I have to find my own way", he replied.

Axel placed his hand on the clone´s shoulder. "Thanks", he just said.

"For what?" Tilian looked confused at Axel. "That I tried to kill you?"

"No, for that I know I can trust you now", said Axel and smiled.

"You´re crazy if you trust me", said Tilian and smiled a little, too. Axel shrugged his shoulders. "Then I´m crazy."

Suddenly four other shadows came over to the two. There were King, Shark, Lioness and Hawk. Meanwhile Lioness wore a darkred dress again, the white one had been too long in her opinion. King gave Tilian the reinsof a horse. "We thought you could need this", explained Axel as he noticed Tilian´s asking and confused look.

Tilian snorted shortly. "I cannot understand you. My team and I tried to hurt you so often and now you´re doing this!"

"Not the past is counting, the _now_ is important", said King.

Tilian sat on the horse and looked into the west. The sun had setted and it was dark now. Just the light of the feast was in this darkness. "Thanks", said Tilian quietly and looked at the teens. He started grinning at Axel. "And when I´m coming back we´ll have a revanche, right?" Axel just nodded and smiled. Then he said something in another language which his friends didn´t know.

The clone started smiling and replied something in the same language. After that his horse went with its forelegs into the air and neighed. Then he galopped away into the west.

"What did you tell him?", asked Hawk.

Axel smiled and looked after his clone who disappeared in the darkness and became one of thousand shadows in the night. Axel didn´t turn to his friends. "I just said, _be careful, my friend_."

"And what was his answer?", asked Lioness.

"_I wanted to tell you the same_", replied Axel. "And in the language of the elves you can´t lie."

"You learned their language?"

Axel turned to his friends and grinned. "Yeah, I had some time in Rétaran and my father told me some words, sentences and a little bit of the grammar...Let´s go back to the feast", he said. "This is _our_ wedding." He smiled at Lioness and wrapped his arm around her waist. The three guys left Axel and Lioness alone and went back into the feast hall.

"By the way..." Lioness lifted her head and kissed Axel gently. He deepened the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They stood there for some long moments outside in the moonlight. The soft wind of the night was warm and blew through their clothes and hair. Axel broke the kiss and looked into the west.

"Let´s go back", whispered Lioness gently and took Axel´s hand. He smiled a little and just nodded.

What Axel didn´t know, Tilian stood on a hill and looked at the castle. He saw two shadows standing in front of it. As the shadows went into the building again he turned his horse and rode into the west, hoping the best for his future. And somehow he hoped the best for Axel, too.

**A very, very long story, and I hope you liked it! Please review and tell me! ) Thanks a lot for reading this, and it would be great if you read my future stories, too! ; )** **The next chapter (and the really last one) is something like a prologue...the really, really last chapter! No real prologue, but something in that direction **


	75. Prologue

The really last one...

In the next years a lot of things happened. Shark, for example, left the team to go to the coast. There he opened a surfing school, just like he had ever wanted. And people were very amazed of this new sport. So Shark became very popular with.

Hawk left the team some time later. He went into the biggest city in Landmark and went to an acting school. Years later, after finishing his education, he became a popular actor and played on a lot of stages in the whole country. In front of counts, ladies and gentlemen.

King stayed his whole life in the castle. He trained the horses there and prepared them for battles or running long distances. Some of them were trained for being very fast. Those horses were often needed to carry messengers. And King liked his job a lot, so he became one of the best horse trainers in the whole country.

Axel went to the rebel leaders and told them about his idea. The leaders were filled with enthusiasm and let Axel do. He wanted to train young guards and other people who wanted to learn a martial art. He didn´t teach them Jo-Lan, but he showed them some grips, moves, kicks and so on. And the best was: The leaders paid him money for training the guards. So he was at day together with his best friend King (at least sometimes when the two rested at midday) and he did what he could do best.

For the first half year Lioness helped him and showed the students some movements, too. But then she got pregnant again and nine months later she got a son. Mother and son survived the birth very well. After the birth of the child Lioness decided to stay at home to take care of it. Meanwhile Sebastian helped Axel a little with the training. After doing his _work_ Axel continued his Jo-Lan training.

His father always said he could never stop training. Even if someone was a master of Jo-Lan he could continue training for years and he wouldn´t finish the education. So a Jo-Lan warrior was busy with training through his whole life. And Axel learned fast, he grew better and better every day.

Tilian didn´t come back. After some years Axel stopped thinking about his clone, or better his friend, would come back. He didn´t know what had happened to him, he didn´t know where he was or where he was about to go to.

But there were a lot of things Axel didn´t know. Tilian traveled nearly through the whole world and found some places that good that he forgot the time and that he wanted to come back. But one day he heard the story of the dragon warrior in Landmark and remembered Axel suddenly.

So he decided to come back.

One morning Axel got up very early. It was a sunday, so he needn´t work this day. It was a sunny and clear morning, the sun rose slowly and the cold wind of the morning blew into his face as he went out of the house. Ten years were a lot of time, the garden was now full with colorful flowers, plants climbed the wall of the house so half the walls were full of leaves. It was nearly summer, the climbing plants had pink and red blossoms.

First of all Axel went into the stabling. He took the horses to a small meadow with a fence around it where they could eat fresh grass. Then he gave them fresh water and closed the gate to leave them alone. On his way back to the house he met Sebastian.

"Good morning...grandpa", he said jokingly. Axel liked it to call his father _grandpa _because Sebastian didn´t like it really. So he frowned now.

"Stop calling me like this, it makes me feel old", he replied. "Good morning by the way."

"You _are_ old", said Axel.

"You, too. If I remember right you´re already 29 years old." Axel nodded in agreement. "Wait ten or twelve other years and you could be a grandpa, too. So don´t open your mouth that wide now", said Sebastian jokingly. Axel shrugged his shoulders. "We´ll see."

"What do you want to do now?"

"I don´t know...I won´t train today, so I can spend some time with Li", replied Axel. "Every day in the morning I´m training with Chris, then I´m training with the guards and in the evening I come back home, tired and restless and just want to sleep. I only see Lioness in the evening and this just for some seconds because I fall earlier asleep than her."

"If you want I could train with Chris for some days. So you have a little more time for her", suggested Sebastian.

"Thanks, but I think I´ll train with him alone. I don´t want him to make the same experience like me. Nine years happy with a father and then he suddenly disappears", said Axel and spoke the last words extra loudly.

"You didn´t come over it until now, right? Don´t tell me every day what _I _did, it was just to save you. And you should do what´s the best for your family", replied Sebastian. Axel nodded.

"But thanks for your help, I´ll tell you if I need you. Please understand that I just want to spend as much time as possible with him", he said. Sebastian nodded. Then he walked away and Axel went back to the house. He found Lioness still in the bedroom and asleep. After sneaking up the stairs (and meanwhile they have built stairs!!!) he walked over to her and woke her with a gentle kiss. She opened her eyes and looked into his smiling face.

She smiled back. "I guess I´ll sleep more often if you wake me up like this everytime", she said and sat up. "Where is..."

"...Chris? He´s still asleep", finished Axel.

"And..."

"...my father? He´s outside", he finished again.

"And..."

"...why do I not let you finish your sentences? Because it´s just funny", he replied grinning. Lioness smiled and pulled him into a kiss. They both fell back into the bed and Axel deepened the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her body and closed his eyes. As they heard footsteps behind them they looked up.

A nine-year-old boy stood in front of the two and looked at them with his clear green-blue eyes. "Hey, good morning! I thought you would wake up earlier", said Axel smiling and stroke through the darkbrown hair of the boy. The child just smiled sleepy and hugged his dad.

"Just because _you_ are getting up with the sun? That is suicide", replied the boy and yawned.

"But I´m very much alive", said Axel.

"Don´t worry, Chris", said Lioness as her son sat on her lap. "Everyone in the Manning-family is crazy like them. Getting up with the sun is normal. You don´t have to do the same, if you don´t want it."

"But I wanna fight like dad and grandpa", said Chris quietly and yawned again. Axel had to giggle as Chris said _grandpa_. He remembered his father´s reaction on this.

"You will, if you´re getting up early", said Axel grinning. Chris moaned jokingly. Then he got dressed and went out of the house to look where Sebastian was. Axel stood up, too and Lioness got dressed meanwhile. As they went down the stairs Chris came running towards them. He looked scared and breathed hardly. "There...outside...is someone...", he said.

Axel´s face turned serious. "Do you know who it is?", he asked. The boy shook his head. "He´s wearing a black coat, I can´t see his face. But he´s riding on a white horse."

Axel went out of the door. He saw a man standing there, in a black coat which was pulled deeply into his face. The coat looked old and haggled, dirty and had some holes. Axel couldn´t see the face of the man. Behind him stood an old, white horse. Chris wanted to follow his father, but Axel pushed him gently back into the house. Lioness told him to stay there as she followed Axel.

"What do you want here? Leave this place if you want something bad", said Axel seriously and looked at the man. He stood two metres in front of the man and tried to see his face.

"I don´t think sssso", replied the man hissing. Axel´s eyes widened as he heard the voice.

"Tilian? Is that you?", he asked carefully. The man opened his coat and it fell to the ground. A guy with red hair, red eyes and green skin grinned at Axel now.

"Do you know another clone of you?"

"Where have you been?", asked Axel and took a step closer.

"Here and there...", replied the clone. "But I see you have a family now", he noticed and looked at Chris who carefully looked through the door. Axel nodded to the boy. He slowly came over to the two men and looked scared at Tilian. "Don´t worry, he´s not biting...I guess", said Axel jokingly.

"Ts, what do you know?", replied Tilian. "But he´s right, in the last ten years I didn´t bite anyone", he said to Chris.

"I can´t remember you used your fangs some time before", said Axel. Tilian shrugged his shoulders. "One time I nearly bit Rayza because this fool...but I won´t tell you any details now."

"Why did you come back?", asked Axel.

"Just like I´ve said, I´ll come back to see what had happened to you...and to get the revanche you promised me", replied his clone and grinned.

"Do you still wanna kill me?"

"Of course", replied Tilian. Axel frowned. "Repeat this in the language of the elves", said Axel and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Tilian wanted to say something, but closed his mouth again. He looked away and seemed to be in thoughts. Then he opened his mouth again and looked at Axel, but he couldn´t say even one word. He sighed. "You know I can´t", he said. Axel smiled. He knew that Tilian learned the language of the elves when he worked for Theresia. And he knew that someone couldn´t lie in this language.

"And you really wanna fight with me now?", asked Axel.

Tilian said _yes_ in the elfin language. And now Axel knew his clone didn´t lie. "Then let´s fight", he said surely. Sebastian came back some moments later and accepted to be the judge in the fight. He decided who won and who lost.

Axel and Tilian went into fighting position and waited for the command to start. Lioness and Chris sat down in the shadow of a tree and watched them, Sebastian stood next to them and waited until the two were ready. Then he allowed them to start. For some long moments they just stood in front of each other and looked into each other´s faces.

Tilian attacked first. He tried to kick Axel and leaped into the air. Axel blocked this high kick, Tilian landed quickly and went to the ground. There he wanted to kick Axel´s legs away, he whirled around and missed because Axel jumped just in time. He blocked some hard punches of his clone. He kicked, whirled around and turned a backflip to get a short pause of the fight.

This pause ended some seconds later as Tilian jumped and landed with his hands on Axel´s shoulders. He grabbed his shirt and used his own weight to throw Axel away. Axel landed hardly on the ground, but was with a quick roll on his feet again and without any pause he ran towards his clone. Tilian expected a high kick and wanted to block, but Axel went to the ground and slided through Tilian´s legs.

Behind his opponent he stood up and kicked his back. Tilian fell, but rolled up again. He tried to punch, but Axel turned a flik-flak backwards. He jumped away as his clone tried another hard kick. "Can´t you stand still for at least some seconds?", asked Tilian and turned a backflip at the same time with Axel. The two ran towards each other and kicked, puched and blocked.

"No, sorry for that", replied Axel and ducked under a kick. Suddenly Tilian grabbed him, threw him onto the ground and sat on his back to press him to the ground. At the same time he took Axel´s right arm and pressed it onto Axel´s back. His face cramped in pain. "No matter", said Tilian. "Is that all you got?" Axel turned his head a little to look at Tilian on his back. He started grinning.

"I´m just warming up", he said. Then he took a deep breath in and concentrated his power. With a quick movement Axel sat on his clone´s back and pressed him to the ground, just like Tilian had done before.

"Don´t you want to end the fight?", asked Chris Sebastian. He thought Tilian would be unable to move now. Sebastian shook his head. "No, we´ll wait some moments."

Tilian could get free and Axel fell on the ground. He rolled onto his feet again. Axel used the Jo-Lan tiger set to hit Tilian some times, then he blasted him away with a Jo-Lan energy wave. Tilian couldn´t block this and fell on the ground. But he stood up again, as fast as he could.

Another time the two attacked each other and at the same time they did the same movement. Axel grabbed Tilian´s right arm and took it into a strong grip. Tilian did the same. They stood now in front of each other, Axel holding Tilian´s right arm and Tilian holding Axel´s right arm. They couldn´t move because none wanted to let the other one go.

"The fight ended in a draw", said Sebastian and ended the fight with this. Tilian and Axel weakened their grips and let the other one go. At last they bowed to each other. And Tilian offered Axel his hand. Axel looked at his clone with confusion.

"Thanks for this fight", he said. Axel smiled and took his hand. "No problem", he said breathless. Both were tired and had sweat on their foreheads.They looked at each other, smiling.

"Wow, that was amazing!" At once the two looked into the same direction. Chris ran towards his father and looked filled with enthusiasm. "How you jumped and kicked and then those movements and..." He couldn´t speak and just smiled. Axel stroke through the boy´s hair. "You could fight like this, too, if you learn hard enough", he said. Chris nodded. "Of course I´ll do! By the way, _what _are you? A lizard or something like that?" He looked at Tilian.

Tilian didn´t reply and looked at Axel. Axel shrugged his shoulders. "I´m no real clone anymore because I´m alive. So I´m a mix of a chameleon, a crocodile, a cobra, a gecko and your father", he said to the boy and explained him what he was exactly. Chris looked at him with widened eyes. "Too creepy for you?", asked Tilian and rose an eyebrow.

"No", replied Chris smiling. "That´s cool! Can I have such a clone, too?" Hopefully he looked at Axel. And Axel just looked at Lioness, at Sebastian and at last at Tilian. At the same moment everyone had to laugh about this question. "No, unfortunately not", said Lioness. "What are you going to do now?", she asked Tilian. He just shrugged his shoulders.

Then Chris spoke up. "Can´t he stay here? He´s cool!", said the small boy. Tilian looked surprised at him. And at Axel.

"You can stay here as long as you want, our house is big enough", said Axel and smiled. "And I guess Chris really likes you now."

"Yeah, the first Manning who liked me at once and who didn´t want to kill me", smirked Tilian. "And if it´s no problem for you I´d like to stay."

"Then welcome in our family", said Lioness.

"Killing you? Why wanted dad to kill you?", asked Chris curious. "Please tell me!"

"Well...that´s a very long story", said Tilian. "But ask your father that, there are some things you should know and which are important for this story. Some of them happened before my appearance, so I have no idea." Chris looked at Axel now.

Axel sighed and smiled. "If you have enough time...so, everything started more than eleven years ago, when I was about eighteen. At this time an evil king ruled this country, his name was Lee. I was with the rebels to fight against him. One day the leader of our rebel group..." Axel told Chris the whole story. How he met his best friends and Lioness, how they brought the letter to the south, how they won the battle against Lee. And when he came to the part with the clones Tilian added something sometimes if Axel forgot it. Chris listened amazed and so he heard the whole story.

And now let me just say what happened in the next couple of years. Hawk, meanwhile a famous actor, died in a high age. Just like Shark. He lived at the coast until his life´s end and surfing was a popular sport because of him. King died some time later, he had an heart attack while working in the castle. Sebastian became very old, too. When he died it was very hard for Axel, he had lost his father two times, and the second time forever.

A lot of time later Lioness died, too. Because of sadness Axel died a day later. And very mysterious was that Tilian died another day later. So it hadn´t been very useful for him that he had been alive. Chris, by the way, became a very good Jo-Lan warrior because of his father´s training methods. He continued his father´s work in the castle and became very popular with. Before his father´s death he got the dragon and became the new dragon warrior.

One day he visited the graves of his parents, Tilian and Sebastian which laid all next to each other in the forest under a large tree. After laying some flowers onto the graves he walked away. As he was gone a small and silver shimmering lizard ran over Axel´s grave and stopped on top of it. It stared at Chris who disappeared in the bushes and calmly it hissed quietly.

**Let me finally say:**

_**--THE END--**_

**I hope you liked this story, thanks for everyone who reviewed to me and told me about it. And of course thanks for reading this. By the way, the lizard is colored silver because Axel had been a silver dragon! ; ) Thanks for reading and pls review to this last chapter!!! ) I´m not sure if the Jo-Lan tiger set is spelled this way...I just heard the name. But I liked that move**

**Thanks to everyone who read this story with enthusiasm, and thanks that you all reviewed! )**


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